LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



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THE CATHOLIC 



THE CATHOLIC. 



L E T T E E S 



ADDRESSED BY 



A JURIST TO A YOUNG KINSMAN 



PROPOSING TO JOIN THE CHURCH OP ROME. 

BY 

E . H . DERBY. 




BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND, OHIO : 

JEWETT, PROCTOR, AND WORTHINGTON. 

NEW YORK : SHELDON, BLAKEMAN AND COMPANY. 

185 6. 



The Library 

of Congress 

washington 



'> 



£ 



^ 



3> 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



CAMBRIDGE : 

ALLEN AND FARNHAM, STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction Page xi 

LETTER I. 

Proposal to join the Church of Eome. — Propositions advanced. — 
Answered. — Catholicism does not pervade the World. — There were 
Dissenters before the time of Luther. — Citations from St. Augus- 
tine. — St. Paul and Lingard's History of England. — Visit of St. 
Austin. — Transubstantiation. — Indulgences and Purgatory mod- 
ern Doctrines 1 

LETTER II. 

Conferences with Roman Catholic Bishop, — Depression of Countries 
where Church of Rome is established. — Progress of Holland. — 
England and the United States. — The true Design of Christianity 
was to refine, not debase the World. — The Church of Rome not 
founded on Scripture. — Key of St. Peter the Word of God. — St. 
Paul and not St. Peter the principal Apostle and Eounder of the 
Church 7 

LETTER PH. 

St. Paul founded the Churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome. — 
Rome the Metropolis. — Her Bishops, like the Roman Catholic 
Bishop of New York, disposed to outrank their Eellows. — Cita- 
tions from Irenseus, Tertullian, and St. Jerome. — Proof that the 
Bishop of Rome, for several Centuries, had no Supremacy. — Pope 
Liberius sentenced as a Heretic. — Ancient Patriarchships. — Pope 
Gregory refuses the Title of Universal Bishop. — The Usurper 

Phocas confers it on Boniface 15 

A* (▼) 



VI CONTENTS. 



LETTER IV. 



The Church of Rome now withholds the Bible from the People, but 
the Apostles and Ancient Fathers, St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. 
Jerome, St. Ambrose, Irenasus, Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Origen, 
and Chrysostom, all leading Authorities of the Church of Rome, 
taught the People to read and study the Scriptures . . 21 

LETTER V. 

The Mass of modern Origin. — Pope Gelasius pronounced the divis- 
ion of the Wine from the Bread a Sacrilege. — The Greek Church 
which separated from the Church of Rome on the question of Easter 
administers both Bread and Wine to the People. — St. Augustine, 
Tertullian, and Pope Leo, deny the Real Presence. — St. Augustine 
denies the existence of Purgatory 29 

LETTER VI. 

Resume of preceding Letter. — Supremacy and Infallibility of the 
Pope. — Oath of Obedience to the Pope required of Converts to the 
Church of Rome, when baptized. — Civil and Spiritual Sword. — 
Power to depose Monarchs and absolve Subjects claimed for the 
Pope, and exercised in the case of Queen Elizabeth. — Adoration 
of the Pope. — Equality of Bishops in the Fourth Century. — Pre- 
dictions of St. Paul and St. Peter. — Purgatory ... 36 

LETTER VII. 

Resume of preceding Letter. — Adoration of the Virgin Mary. — 
Worship of Statues and Images. — Exclusion of Pictures from An- 
cient Churches. — Celibacy of the Clergy. — St. Peter a married 
Man. — St. Chrysostom commends the marriage of the Clergy. — 
The Greek Church, once united with the Church of Rome, requires 
the Clergy to marry. — St. Paul predicts " that seducing Spirits 
shall forbid to marry and command Men to abstain from Meats " 

44 

LETTER VIII. 

Progress of Christianity in its early Stages. — Overthrows the Pa- 
ganism of Greece and Rome, a State Religion associated with 
Poetry and History. — Tertullian's Picture of Christianity, a. d. 



CONTENTS. Vll 

198. — Ancient Dioceses. — Number in Africa and Asia. — Seces- 
sion of Rome from the Greek Church. — Rise of Mahomet. — De- 
cline of Christianity in Asia and Africa. — Diffusion of the Protes- 
tant Faith since the Reformation 53 



LETTER IX. 

The Church of Rome not Apostolic. — Temporal Power of the Church 
of Rome. — The New Testament forbids a Bishop to engage in secu- 
lar Affairs. — The Apostolic Canons prohibit the Clergy from hold- 
ing temporal Offices. — Monasteries not sanctioned by Scripture. — 
Monks condemned by St. Augustine. — Auricular Confession not 
founded on Holy "Writ. — No Oath required at Baptism in the Apos- 
tolic Church. — Want of Unity in the Church of Rome. — The Ma- 
ronites, Nestorians, Armenians, Arians. — Proclamation of Theo- 
dosius. — Its Effects. — The Donatists. — The Jesuits and Jansen- 
ists. — Schisms in the Church of Rome .... 59 



LETTER X. 

The Episcopal Church. — Bishops appointed during the Life of St. 
John. — James the first Bishop of Jerusalem. — Linus, a Prince of 
Britain, first Bishop of Rome. — Liturgy of England derived from 
St. John through Lyons. — Church of England founded by St. 
Paul or his Associates. — Proof of his Visit to England. — Aus- 
tin's celebrated Visit and Conference. — Canons of Clarendon. — In- 
dependence of the Church of England. — WicklifFe and Wolsey 

69 

LETTER XL 

Present Aspect of the Church of Rome. — St. Peter not superior to 
the other Disciples. — Testimony of Scripture, of St. Chrysostom, 
St. Ambrose, St. Hilary, Basil, and St. Augustine, to the equality 
of the Apostles 80 

LETTER XII. 

Supremacy of the Popes examined. — Testimony of Sts. Ignatius, Ire- 
nseus, Clement, Jerome, and Erasmus against such Supremacy. — 
Deportment of the Bishops of Rome in the Fourth Century. — Da- 
masus 90 



V1U CONTENTS. 



LETTER XIII. 



Resume of preceding Letter. — St. Jerome's Epistle. — The Office of 
Bishop of Rome in a transition State. — Licentious Conduct of the 
Clergy of Rome in the Eourth Century. — First Statute of Mort- 
main. — Clergy forbidden to frequent the Houses of Widows and 
Virgins. — St. Jerome and St. Ambrose deplore their Conduct. — 
Valentinian gives precedence to the Bishop of Milan over the Bishop 
of Rome in his Decree to abolish Paganism. — Secession of Rome 
from the Eastern Church 105 

LETTER XIV. 

Article in the Edinburgh Review on Saul of Tarsus. — Qualifications 
of St. Paul compared with those of St. Peter. — Bunsen's Hippo- 
lytus. — Avarice and Corruption of Zephyrinus and Callistus, Bish- 
ops of Rome, at the close of the Second Century. — Picture of the 
Church of Rome in the Second Century . . . . 112 



LETTER XV. 

Treatise of Eaber. — Arguments of Chevalier Bunsen against the 
Church of Rome. — Milner's End of Controversy neither Truthful 
nor Logical. — Gross Errors of Milner. — He ascribes the Latin Lit- 
urgy to St. Peter and St. Paul. — Greek, not Latin, for the first 
three Centuries was the Language of Commerce, Religion, and Lit- 
erature in Asia and Europe. — Weakness of his Assault on the Au- 
thority of Scripture. — Contradictions. — States that Zephyrinus 
and Callistus were eminent for their Sanctity. — Catholic Proof of 
their Venality and Profligacy. — He alleges no diversity of Belief 
in the Ancient Church as to the Real Presence. — Is contradicted by 
Pope Leo and several eminent Catholic Fathers and Saints. — His 
Misstatements as to the Nestorians. — Misstatement as to the Greek 
Church. — Entirely unreliable 117 

LETTER XVI. 

Effects of preceding Letters. — Resumption of Series. — Reasons for 
resuming. — Essay of Conyers Middleton. — Conformity of the 
Church of Rome to the Rites of Paganism. — Parallel between them 
with respect to Incense, Candles, Votive Offerings, Statues, Holy 
Water, Groves, Oratories, Mendicant Priests, and Miracles 128 



CONTENTS. IX 



LETTER XVII. 



The Jesuits. — Activity and Efficiency of the Order. — Agents of the 
Holy See. — Favor the Worship of the Virgin. — View her as an 
Intercessor between God and Man. — Her Worship gradually super- 
seding the Worship of the Deity. — The Two Ladders. — The 
Origin, Rules, Character, Progress, and Success of the Order 136 



LETTER XVIII 

Graphic Sketch of the Jesuits by Macaulay. — Secret of their Success. 
— Great Power and Resources. — Neglect of the Sources of their 
Greatness. — Overthrow of Portroyal. — Connection with the Mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew, and Revocation of Edict of Nantz. — 
Expulsion from Portugal, Spain, Erance, Austria. — Suppression 
by the Pope. — Death of the Pope in consequence. — Expulsion 
from Moscow. — Their Revival. — Renewed Progress . 145 



LETTER XIX. 

Origin, Extent, and Nature of Pope's Supremacy. — Such Power not 
claimed by the Bishops' of Rome for six Centuries. — Supremacy 
of the Roman Emperors, and Admission by Bishops of Rome of 
their Supremacy. — Their subsequent Pretensions. — Deposition of 
Monarchs. — Anathema against Napoleon. — Condemnation of 
modern Works denying the absolute Power of the Pope. — Recent 
Abrogation of Laws of Spain and Sardinia by the Pope. — Edict of 
the Provincial Council of Baltimore. — Absorption of Churches 
and Trust Funds by the Pope. — Resistance of the Trustees of a 
Church at Buffalo. — Consequences. — Interposition of the Civil 
Power 157 



LETTER XX. 

Vestiges of the Ancient Primitive Church. — Investigations by Chev- 
alier Bunsen. — Results. — Evidence of the Existence of Ecclesias- 
tical Rules, and Discovery of the Ancient System of Instruction in 
Religion. — Order of Worship. — Canons of Church Government, 
and Rules of Private Life. — Epitome of their Contents. — Over- 
throw of the Claims of Rome. — Great Work of Christianity. — 
Church of the Future . 176 



CONTENTS. 



LETTEE XXL 



Summary. — Eecurrence to first Propositions. — Syllogism of Eoman 
Catholic Bishop. — Application of the Evidence. — Public Policy 

184 



APPENDIX. 

Church Books of the Apostolic Church as restored by 
Bunsen. 

Book 1 193 

Book II. . . . . . . ... . 207 

Book III 220 

Power claimed by the Popes as evinced by their Official Acts, ex- 
tract from Barrow's Popes' Supremacy . . • ., . 227 

Oath of Eoman Catholic Bishops published in the Seventeenth Cen- 
tury 233 

Voltaire's Character of Pascal, and Opinion of his Work expressed 
by the celebrated Bossuet 236 

Morals of the Jesuits, from Pascal's Provincial Letters ; part of Let- 
ter XV 237 

Doctrine of the Jesuits and Origin of the Jansenists, from Eanke's 
History of the Popes 245 

Opposition of the Jesuits to the Circulation of the Scriptures in 
Prance, from Henry's Exposition of the New Testament . 259 

Worship of the Virgin Mary gradually superseding the Christian Ee- 
ligion, as conceded by the Jesuits. Extract from Seymour 264 

Effects and Tendency of Papacy, an extract from Barrow's Treatise 
on the Pope's Supremacy, Vol. VII. p. 290 . . . 267 

Additional Proof that St. Paul or his immediate Converts planted 
Christianity in Britain. — Linus, Claudia, Pudens, Pomponia Gra> 
cina, natives or friends of Britain, Christians, and doubtless Con- 
verts of St. Paul. — Marble Tablet found at Chichester . 274 



INTRODUCTION. 



These letters were written by a member of the 
legal profession, in active practice, to a young kins- 
man. 

This youth at the age of seventeen, after evincing 
much industry and talent as a student, had become 
deeply interested in religious subjects. Misled by 
the statements in Milner's End of Controversy and 
other Roman Catholic works, he suddenly conceived 
the idea that the Church of Rome was the only 
primitive, apostolic, and catholic church, and ap- 
prised the author that he should, in his next vaca- 
tion, apply to a Roman Catholic bishop for baptism. 
As the case required prompt action, the author im- 
mediately wrote a series of letters to dissuade him 
from his purpose. 

He resorted not to modern casuists, but to the 
fountainheads, and tested the claims and faith of 
the Church of Rome, not by the writings of its op- 
ponents, but by those authorities on which that 
Church relies, namely, those early saints, fathers, 
and popes, Augustine, Clement, Irenseus, Ambrose, 

(xi) 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

Chrysostom, Eusebius, Jerome, Athanasius, Leo, and 
others revered by the church itself, and, in many in- 
stances, inscribed on its tree of saints and martyrs. 
He also drew his illustrations from scripture, history, 
and books of travels. 

The letters having convinced his kinsman, he has 
been led by the solicitation of friends and clergy- 
men, to complete the series of letters and to place 
them before the public. 



THE CATHOLIC. 



LETTER I. 

Boston, February 10, 1853. 
My Dear S. . . : — Your mother has placed in my 
hands your letter of the fourth current, and finding a 
few hours leisure this morning, I feel it my duty to 
reply. I confess I do not like the spirit of your let- 
ter, for it is altogether too positive in its tone. You 
are but a stripling of seventeen years; you have 
made good progress, and displayed some acumen, 
but are still a very youthful philosopher. The law 
which intrusts to me your guidance, the public sen- 
timent which expects me to instruct you, and thus 
qualify you for the duties and conflicts of life, con- 
fide to me as a correlative privilege, the guidance of 
your religious sentiment. Having a respect for all 
denominations of Christians, and having been com- 
pelled by circumstances to worship with several, I 
have wished not to press the subject of religion upon 
you with too much zeal, but to place you under the 
care of our own clergyman, and give you the oppor- 
tunity, without undue coercion, to avail yourself of 
his guidance, and gradually mature your religious 
opinions. 

1 (i) 



2 THE CATHOLIC. 

It is, however, my duty under your last letter, to 
speak more decidedly. Your opinions on religion are 
at present immature, and betray a want of research 
and reflection. More time and study are requi- 
site. You have an impulsive temperament, and have 
already on more occasions than one, acted under 
erroneous impressions, and changed yoor opinions 
or essentially modified them, and I have no doubt 
will do it again. I must therefore apprise you, that 
I shall not for the present consent to your becoming 
a member of the Church of Rome. When you 
have made more progress, when you have attained 
to your twentieth year, and have properly investi- 
gated the subject, I shall, however reluctant, place no 
restraint upon your deliberate judgment, and mean- 
while I wish you to thoroughly investigate the whole 
subject. 

Your letter evinces a strange want of information 
on one point. You say, " Catholic means universal, 
and Episcopalianism only exists in England and a 
small part of America, and if you can point me to 
a place in the world (where men have any idea of 
the Christian religion) where Roman Catholicism 
does not exist, then I wdll turn Protestant." 

Now Europe, the most civilized part of the world, 
contains three millions seven hundred thousand square 
miles, and in two thirds of it the Roman Catholic 
church has virtually no existence, namely, in 

Russia containing 2,000,000 square miles. 1 

Sweden and Norway 291,000 " 

Turkey 210,000 « 

Total 2,501,000 « 

1 Except the Polish Province. 



THE CATHOLIC. 3 

The Roman Catholic church holds a divided em- 
pire over one million two hundred thousand miles 
only, and does not embrace half the people of Eu- 
rope. The Greek church has nearly as many wor- 
shippers in Europe as the Roman, and controls ex- 
clusively more than half the territory of Europe, and 
about all the Christian churches of Asia. The 
Roman church is in a minority also in Africa and 
America. 

Again you say, that " it is universally conceded 
that no Protestants, that is, dissenting or protesting 
from the authority of the Pope, existed before the 
time of Luther, consequently you are not apostoli- 
cal." Have you never read of this same Greek 
church which claims to be apostolic, and was estab- 
lished at Byzantium ; have you not heard of Wick- 
lifTe, of the Waldenses and Albigenses, or to go back 
further, are you not aware that St. Augustine of the 
fifth century, from whom the Augustines take their 
name, a man whose writings are preserved and 
treated as authorities by the Roman See, authorities 
they cannot and dare not reject, was Calvinistic in 
his doctrines now extant ? Was he an adorer of the 
Virgin Mary? Again, there is nothing but vague 
tradition to show that Peter founded the Church of 
Rome, and that same tradition is, that Peter and 
Paul both suffered martyrdom at Rome, and what 
record does St. Paul give of Peter as Bishop of 
Rome? St. Paul does speak of Clement, his fellow- 
laborer at Rome, but does not speak of any assist- 
ance from St. Peter, who seems to have derived his 
subsequent reputation from a mere play upon his 
name, or figurative expression of our Saviour. 



4 THE CATHOLIC. 

St. Paul was the great apostle to the Gentiles. He 
was the great traveller. He speaks of his repeated 
shipwrecks, his voyages and journeys by sea and 
land, of his visit to Spain. This was the route of 
Phoenician commerce to the tin, copper, and lead 
mines of England ; and the English tradition is, that 
St. Paul established churches in England. We learn, 
at all events, from Lingard, the Roman Catholic his- 
torian of England, who cites the venerable Bede, 
that when Pope Gregory, in the seventh century, 
sent Austin to England to convert the Saxons, he 
found Christian churches which had been established 
there for centuries, entirely unknown to the Bishop 
of Rome, who punned upon the Angles as " angels," 
and upon Deira their home as " Dei Ira." 

The English church claims an apostolic descent 
from St. Paul, with more presumptions from history ', 
and quite as much from traditions, as the Romish 
does from St. Peter. Iconium, or the Isle of Iona, 
was the ancient seat of religious instruction, 

Subsequently, when the Pope of Rome had ob- 
tained some ascendency over the English church, 
some Catholic rites, forms, and doctrines were 
adopted, which were more or less discarded at the 
Reformation ; but the English church, as well as the 
French, ever maintained a great degree of inde- 
pendence. 

The English church would not allow the Pope to 
appoint bishops, or consecrate them at Rome, but 
merely to send the Pallium or Vesture ; it refused 
Peter Pence, and in other respects questioned the 
Papal supremacy, and washed itself from abuses 
that had crept in, at the Reformation. You ask, 



THE CATHOLIC. 

where were the Protestants for many centuries after 
our Saviour? The reply doubtless is, they were 
gradually giving way to the abuses, and encroach- 
ments, and grasping policy of the Roman See, ever 
extending its arms ; or I might add, the subject is 
forcibly if not elegantly illustrated, by the answer of 
the English boy to the Irish. The latter asked, 
What was the condition of your church before the 
Reformation ? The English boy replies, In the same 
condition you were in before your face was washed 
this morning. 1 

But to another point. You speak of the " unity " 
of the Roman Catholic church for fourteen centuries. 
Where was that unity when the Roman Catholic 
church and the Greek church separated, divided 
Christendom, and the bishop of Rome and the bishop 
of Constantinople mutually excommunicated each 
other ? 

Where was its unity when St. Augustine, still a 
calendar saint, preached Calvinistic sermons ? Where 
was its unity when the Franciscans and Dominicans, 
professing different doctrines, divided the church and 
anathematized each other ? Where was its unity in 
the great struggle of the iconoclasts and image- wor- 
shippers which divided the church also? Are you 
not aware that the great Roman Catholic articles of 
faiths transubstantiation, indulgences, and purgatory, 
are of modern introduction into the Roman Catholic 

1 This striking illustration originated with the celebrated John 
Wilkes. When asked by a Koman Catholic, " Where was your 
church before Luther ? " he inquired, " Did you wash your face 
this morning ? " " Yes," was the response, and then came the sig- 
nificant reply, " Where was your face before it was washed ? " 

1* 



6 THE CATHOLIC. 

creed, and that the adoration and prayers to the Vir- 
gin are long subsequent to St. Augustine ? 

Have you never read of the great division of the 
Roman Catholics between the Jesuits and the Jansen- 
ites, and the more recent division between the Mon- 
tane and Transmontane parties, the former denying 
and the latter admitting the infallibility of the Pope, 
without a general council of the church ? 

And are not the differences between these parties 
altogether more serious than those between high and 
low church? 

And when you speak of miracles, do you believe 
in the holy coat of Treves, and in the tears which 
flow from eyes of statues in whose hollow heads 
fishes are swimming? 

You speak of casting out devils. It seems to me 
that too much presumption and self-confidence with- 
out knowledge, are the modern and most dangerous 
devils, and the true mode to cast them out, is to ap- 
proach this great subject of religion with humility 
and diffidence, to pay some respect to the experience 
of those who have lived twenty or thirty years longer 
than yourself, and then to investigate the great ques- 
tion of religion coolly, cautiously, prayerfully, and 
thoroughly, and not decide first and learn afterwards. 

I send you a pamphlet of some bearing on this 
question, and would recommend you to read the first, 
St. Augustine, with care ; also to read Churton's 
Early English Church, and Stillingfleet's Origines 
Britannicae Ecclesiae, and other prominent authors. 
Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER II. 

Boston, February 20, 1853. 

Dear S. . . : — At your request, I have seen the 
Roman Catholic bishop, and apprised him of my 
views respecting you, and thanked him for not yield- 
ing to your inconsiderate request. He told me that 
when candidates for admission to his church came to 
him, he often held them back, and sometimes put 
them on probation for eighteen months, and added, 
that he had advised you, that in case of death dur- 
ing probation, he had no doubt all parties on probation 
would be saved. He expressed, too, the opinion, that 
it was not wise or judicious for any one to join the 
church, without due and ample thought and investi- 
gation, and promised to do nothing more in the 
premises (except to reply to your inquiries and fur- 
nish books) without consulting me upon the subject. 

You will therefore, I trust, have no difficulty in 
conforming to my views, and I must insist on my 
prerogative. I am on one point more liberal than 
the bishop. He says he could not advise any parent 
in his church, to consent that his son should leave his 
church for another ; but I am willing that some two 
years hence, when you have attained to the age of 
twenty, and matured your opinions, you should exer- 
cise your own deliberate judgment; but let me assure 
you, that if you deliberately disobey me after this 



8 THE CATHOLIC. 

assurance, that your disobedience will not only be 
registered indelibly in my own mind, but will be 
registered in heaven. 

I have hoped you would endeavor t6 sustain the 
points you advanced in your first letter, and would 
reply to my last, but I see you notice but one or two 
suggestions, and fly off to some Romish logic, which 
it seems to me you must draw not from your own 
reading, but from some modern casuist. I regret that 
you have not, down to this time, read more upon 
the subject of theology, and that you have not em- 
braced in your course of miscellaneous reading, those 
books of history and of travels which would have 
shown you the disastrous influence of the Church of 
Rome on the countries where its power has been es- 
tablished for the last twelve centuries. 

I do not write you to prefer charges against the 
Church of Rome, but to draw your attention to the 
weakness of its foundations, and the remarkable de- 
parture it has made from the simplicity of the gos- 
pel. I wish to point out its errors which are obvious 
to me as a layman^ and which have long impressed 
my mind, and in doing so, I wish to exhibit that re- 
spect which I feel for all denominations of Chris- 
tians, and for all followers of our Saviour, whether 
of the Romish, Greek, or Protestant faith. I shall 
give you, too, my own views, and the result of my 
own reading. I propose to discuss the question at 
issue with you myself, and leave our pastor to dis- 
cuss it if he sees fit with our friend the Romish 
bishop. 

You do not appear to be familiar with the early 
fathers and writers, who are recognized as high au- 



THE CATHOLIC. 9 

thorities by the Catholic church, and are deferred to 
by both Greek, Romish, and Protestant churches. I 
mean the great men who wrote in the first four cen- 
turies before the dark ages, namely, Cyprian, Jerome, 
Origen, Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Gregory, 
Eusebius, and Tertullian ; but as I happen to have in 
my possession one of the books of St. Augustine, 
and copious extracts from the others, made by Jew- 
ell, the learned bishop of Salisbury, in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, with' full reference to book and 
page, I shall quote them in discussion. 

The Augustine I cited, and propose to cite, is not 
Jansen, who signs himself Augustinus^ because he 
adopts the views of St. Augustine, but the old saint 
himself, whom you mention " as the clearest of wit- 
nesses," although I can find no proof in his writings 
that he was, as you seem to suppose, a devout wor- 
shipper, in the Romish sense, of the blessed Virgin 
Mary. 

And first, let me draw your attention to the argu- 
ment against the Romish church being the true one, 
derived from history and travels. You will find the 
current of evidence nearly irresistible, that in those 
countries where it has prevailed, progress and civili- 
zation have been retarded, and the condition of the 
people sadly depressed. Compare England since the 
Reformation for three centuries, with England for 
three centuries before, and see what a stride she has 
made, from a poor and obscure island, with her land 
engrossed by monasteries and nunneries, and her 
people depressed, degraded, and ignorant. Look at 
the leap she has made since she shook off these in- 
cumbrances. Look at the progress of population, 



10 THE CATHOLIC. 

wealth, industry, and art, at the islands and territo- 
ries she has subdued and settled, at her mastery of 
the seas, and the diffusion of her race, language, and 
religion throughout the world. At the present rate 
of progress, in one century more, the Protestants 
speaking the English tongue will exceed three hun- 
dred millions, and outnumber the present members 
of both Greek and Romish churches ; and what is 
one century compared with the eighteen preceding 
centuries? Again, compare Italy, the ancient seat 
of arts and power, depressed and degraded and im- 
poverished under the Papal see for twelve centuries, 
with the Protestant States of Holland won from the 
sea, Germany, England, and the United States, in 
which last the Protestants stand as ten to one com- 
pared with the Roman Catholics. Compare Spain, 
broken down by the inquisition and absorption of land 
by the priesthood and by Romish observances, with 
England and Holland, and mark the progress of 
France since the estates of the church were alienated, 
and recur to the losses both France and Spain sus- 
tained, the former by the massacre of the Protestants 
and the expulsion of the survivors, and the latter by 
the expulsion of the Moors, who were so long the de- 
positaries of learning, and that barbarous interdict 
upon all freedom of thought, the inquisition. But I 
thank God, even the Romish church is now aban- 
doning the auto da fe and the grand inquisitor. 

Now I submit this argument as to the Romish 
faith being a departure from the gospel, that the true 
design of Christianity was to refine, improve, and 
civilize, not debase the world ; and if we find a sys- 
tem has departed from the simplicity of the gospel, 



THE CATHOLIC. 11 

and has been attended by debasement and degrada- 
tion, while the reformation has been attended with 
different results, that system cannot be true. 

Again, let me recur to the origin of the Romish 
church. Its basis should be the gospeL Here we 
have a safe starting-point. All denominations recog- 
nize the mission of our Saviour, and the authority 
of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles* Now how far do 
these sacred books establish the faith, doctrines, and 
usages of the Romish church ? First, the Church of 
Rome relies upon the sixteenth chapter of St. Mat- 
thew, eighteenth verse, in which our Saviour says, 
" Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my 
church." But we must remember that in the same 
chapter, verse twenty-third, our Saviour rebukes Peter 
in terms stronger than he used to any apostle, save 
Judas, who betrayed him, saying, " Get thee behind 
me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me." And we 
must not forget that in the hour of trial Peter fal- 
tered, that he thrice denied our Lord, and drawing a 
sword against the wishes of our Saviour, wounded a 
servant of the high-priest, because he stated the truth. 

Again, the Romish church adverts to the gift of 
keys and relies on the nineteenth verse of the same 
chapter, but the ancient fathers attached little impor- 
tance to this verse which so closely precedes the re- 
buke. Tertullian, of Carthage, who flourished in 
the next century after the apostles, says, " Clavem in- 
terpretationem legis." 1 Chrysostom, bishop of Con- 
stantinople, says, " Clavis est scientia scripturarum 

1 " The key is the interpretation of the law." 



12 THE CATHOLIC. 

per quam aperitur janua veritatis." 1 Chrysostom 
lived in 393. Eusebius, who lived in 290, born in 
Palestine in 265, an able and voluminous writer, calls 
the keys " the word of God." These seem to be the 
earliest and most authentic of ancient expositors, and 
I can refer you to these passages and all others I 
may cite. What becomes, then, of the express dele- 
gation to St. Peter, claimed by the Romanists, of the 
exclusive custody of the gates of heaven ? 

Again, the Romish church relies on the words spo- 
ken to St. Peter, " feed my sheep, feed my lambs," 
the words of our Saviour. But our Saviour said to 
all his apostles, indifferently, " feed ye," " go into the 
whole world," "teach ye the gospel." 2 Whatever 
power was given to St. Peter was not delegated to 
his successors by any words I find in the gospels. 
The Romish church look principally to St. Peter, but 
it appears by Holy Writ that St. Paul was the great 
apostle to the Gentiles, and the principal if not the 
sole founder of the Church of Rome. 

Tt is true the Lord appeared in a vision to St. 
Peter, to dispel his impressions as to the impurity of 
the Gentiles, but it does not appear that St. Peter, 
for many years, went out of Asia, while St. Paul, 
enlightened by a heavenly vision, and highly edu- 
cated, having been reared at Tarsus, distinguished 
for its schools, and at the feet of Gamaliel, a learned 
and leading Pharisee, and being born a Roman citi- 
zen, was converted to the faith, and sent forth the 

1 " The key is the knowledge of Scripture through which the 
gate of truth is opened." 

2 John 20: 21-23. Mark 16 : 15. 



THE CATHOLIC. 13 

eloquent expounder of Christianity, and endowed also 
with the power of miracles. Refer to the Acts and 
Epistles. Who was the principal actor and author ? 
St. Paul. How often did he visit Rome, and how 
long did he reside there? He was there twice or 
thrice and for years. His epistles most of them bear 
date from Rome. Look at their conclusion. Read 
them all, and you will find he was in Asia, Egypt, 
Arabia, Thrace, Greece, Macedonia, Italy, Spain, 
and many other regions, founding churches and 
preaching the gospel. Examine his Epistle to the 
Galatians from Rome, chapters one and two, from 
the fourteenth verse of the first, to the sixteenth verse 
of the second chapter, and note his remarkable nar- 
rative of the heavenly vision, and his mission to the 
Gentiles. How it was three years after he com- 
menced that mission, before he visited the disciples 
in Jerusalem, where he conferred with Peter and 
James, (the first bishop of Jerusalem,) the Lord's 
brother, and after a visit of but fifteen days to Peter, 
left Judea for Cilicia and Syria ; how he travelled on 
his mission for fourteen years, and then returned to 
Jerusalem where he found James and John, as well 
as Cephas, " pillars of the church," and Peter perform- 
ing his mission to the circumcised ; how he met Peter 
at Antioch ; how Peter at first associated with the 
Gentiles at meals, and when the Jews appeared with- 
drew, and how severely Paul reproved him for this 
tergiversation, " and withstood him to the face because 
he was to be blamed." See Galatians 11 : 11, 14, and 
note that he afterwards returned to Rome, and thence 
addressed his apostolic letters to the bishops of various 
churches. Does all this show any supremacy or infal- 
2 



14 THE CATHOLIC. 

libility on the part of St. Peter in the days of the 
apostles ? He may have subsequently visited Rome, 
and his martyrdom may have occurred there, and his 
blood have cemented the foundations of the church 
which St. Paul had reared there, but St. Paul was 
the bold, learned, eloquent, and effective preacher of 
the gospel to the heathen, and at least coordinate 
with St. Peter, the oldest and probably least in- 
structed of the disciples, who must have been an old 
man when he reached Rome more than eighteen 
years after the death of our Saviour. 

It thus appears by Holy Writ, that St. Peter did 
not plant the Church of Rome. In my next letter, I 
will test by Catholic writers, the authority of the first 
bishops of Rome, and how, on the decline of the 
Roman Empire, they acquired the Papal power. 
Very sincerely and affectionately yours. 

I have no objections to your asking the bishop any 
questions that you may see fit, but I do not wish 
you to send him this letter. 



LETTER III. 

Boston, February 21, 1853. 
My deae S. . . : — In my last letter I showed you that 
Peter, in the days of our Saviour and the apostles, was 
not superior to his associates ; that the " keys " are the 
" Word of God" given to all the disciples ; that James 
became the first bishop of Jerusalem to the exclusion 
of Peter ; that Paul, after his heavenly vision, with- 
out taking counsel of the disciples, began his mission 
to the heathen, and became the builder of that 
church, of which Christ himself was the chief corner- 
stone ; that Paul planted the great churches in Ephe- 
sus, Smyrna, and Rome, chief cities of the Roman 
Empire, and in tracing the progress of the bishops 
of Rome, we must remember that Rome was the 
seat of empire, the mistress of the world, and it was 
to be expected that her bishops should be aspir- 
ing, that they should feel like the Romish bishop of 
New York, the metropolis of our country, disposed 
to outrank their fellows and enlarge their jurisdic- 
tion. It was natural that they should struggle for 
supremacy, and by no means surprising they should 
attain to power. Six centuries, however, expired 
before they acquired a positive ascendency, as ap- 
pears by the concurrent testimony of the fathers and 
historians both of church and state. Bishops were 
placed over hundreds of churches in Europe, Asia, 

(15) 



16 THE CATHOLIC. 

and Africa, who for six centuries exercised the power 
of the apostles, met in council, and by discussion 
and by concurrent votes regulated the faith and di- 
rected the worship of the Catholic church. 

The first authority on whom the Romish church 
places any reliance is Irenseus, who lived about the 
year 170, and was a friend of Poly carp, the disciple 
of St. John. He wrote a treatise against the Gnos- 
tics, who claimed to know certain mysteries which the 
apostles disclosed only to the perfect. In arguing 
against these heretics in his essay, 1 he says, if the 
apostles had known any such mysteries, they would 
have intrusted them to those to whom they intrusted 
the apostolic churches they founded, and to confute 
the Gnostics cites the doctrines and faith derived 
from the apostles by a succession of bishops in the 
great, most ancient, and universally known church, 
founded at Rome by the glorious apostles Peter and 
Paul, in which the faithful around it have always 
preserved the apostolic doctrine, and adds, that not 
only Polycarp, taught by the apostles, and by them 
constituted bishop of Smyrna, but also the Church 
of Ephesus, founded by Paul, but in which John re- 
mained until the time of Trajan, are true witnesses 
of the faith transmitted by the apostles. 

Irenseus gives to the Church of Rome the promi- 
nence she deserves from her position, size, impor- 
tance, and founders, but brings in also the churches 
of Smyrna and Ephesus, as alike true witnesses 
against the heretics he is confuting, thus placing them 
on the same footing. 

Tertullian, one century afterwards, in his essay 

1 Li 8, c. 8. 



THE CATHOLIC. 17 

against Marcian, refers his opponent to his standard 
authorities against him, saying, " Run over the apos- 
tolic churches in which the apostles' chairs are still 
continued, in which their authentic letters are recited, 
sounding out the voice and representing the face 
of each one of them. Is Achaia nearest to you, you 
have Corinth. If you be not far from Macedonia, you 
have the Philippians and the Thessalonians. If you 
can go to Asia, you have Ephesus. If you border 
on Italy, you have Rome, whence we also (namely, 
the Africans) can have authority." 

Thus the ancient fathers taught the people to re- 
form their doctrine, not only by the Church of 
Rome, but also by other notable apostolic churches. 

Again, the blessed martyr, Cyprian, bishop of Car- 
thage, under the emperor Decius, A, D. 249, in his 
treatise of " Cyprianus de simplicitate Praelatorum," 
says, " All the apostles were of like power among 
themselves, and the rest were the same that Peter 
was," and adds, "there is but one bishopric and a 
piece thereof is holden by each particular bishop." 
What paramount power does this saint of the church 
accord to the church of Rome ? 

The blessed Jerome, Hieronymus, born A. D. 331, in 
his " Litera ad Evagrium," speaking of the usage 
and order of the Church of Rome, says, " Why al- 
legest thou to me the usage of one city ? " Again, 
he says, " not only the bishops of one city, (that is, 
Rome,) but the bishops of all the world, err." Sruely, 
then, the bishop of Rome had no infinite or universal 
power. The church was then governed by councils, 
and heretics were put down by general councils, and 

2* 



18 THE CATHOLIC. 

heretics were then numerous. St. Augustine enu- 
merates more than eighty varieties, and at one time 
the Arians, favored by an emperor, were supposed to 
be in the ascendant. The first general council was 
called by Constantine, the emperor, at Nice. Three 
hundred and eighteen bishops attended to put down 
the Arian heresy. It is intimated both by St. Jerome 
and St. Augustine that Liberius, bishop or pope of 
Rome, took part with the Arians. St. Jerome states 
this in his treatise, 1 and Cardinal Casanus, a Romish 
writer in the first half of the fifteenth century, a fa- 
vored friend of Pope Eugenius IV., and legate 
under several pontiffs, represents St. Augustine to 
have said that " Pope Liberius gave his hand and 
consent to the Arians." 2 But the great council of 
Nice put down the Arians, and with them con- 
demned virtually Liberius, the heretic pope, and 
the other bishops who favored them. An eminent 
Roman Catholic writer is here our authority. When 
councils thus condemn the Roman bishop, or pope, 
where was his infallibility, and how was it mani- 
fested to the world ? Further, by the sixth canon of 
the first Council of Nice, the whole of Christendom 
was diyided into four patriarchships, whereof the first 
was Rome, the second Alexandria, the third Antioch, 
the fourth Jerusalem ; each was limited, and Rome 
was confined to Italy and the West. Neither had 
power over the other, and down to a much later pe- 
riod, the idea of a universal bishop was scouted by the 
bishops of Rome as well as ottiers. Gregory I., a 

1 Hieron. de Ecclcs. Scriptor. 

2 In his book de Concord. L. II, c. 5. 



THE CATHOLIC. 19 

bishop of Rome, and a saint of the Romish church, 
says, 1 " He is antichrist that shall claim to be called 
universal bishop, or chief of the priests." The em- 
peror Gratian did the same, and allowed the bishop 
of Rome to be called no more than bishop of the 
first seat. 

St. John, predicting the antichrist in Revelations, 
says of the number of the beast, " His number is 
666." Irenseus says the name of antichrist is ex- 
pressed by a number Aareivog, equivalent to Latinus. 
The Greek letters indicate 666. After Justinian, at 
the close of the sixth century, had deposed two Ro- 
man bishops or popes, Sylverius and Vigilius, the 
first for profligacy, and the last for treason, the 
Roman bishops were for a time quite moderate in 
their pretensions. About this period, Gregory, then 
bishop of Rome, writes as follows : " None of my 
predecessors, bishops of Rome, ever consented to use 
this ungodly name (of universal bishop) ; no bishop 
of Rome ever took upon him this name of singular- 
ity ; we, the bishops of Rome, will not receive this 
honor being offered unto us." 2 

But his successors were not so fastidious. Early 
in the seventh century, John, bishop of Constantino- 
ple, claimed from the emperor Maurice, the title of 
" universal bishop," and Gregory objected. Soon 
after Maurice, with his family, was murdered by the 
centurion Phocas, who was raised by the soldiery to 
the imperial throne. At the instance of Boniface 
II., bishop of Rome, a successor of Gregory, the 
usurper Phocas conferred this " ungodly name," as it 

1 Epistolse 34, L. IV. 

2 Greg. L. IV. Ep. 32 et 36. 



20 THE CATHOLIC. 

was termed by Gregory, on Boniface. Building on 
this frail title, derived not from St. Peter, but from 
the felon and usurper Phocas, the popes soon en- 
larged their power, so that in another century pope 
Boniface VIII. announced, " that every creature must 
submit itself to the bishop of Rome, upon the pain 
of everlasting damnation." So much for the origin 
and foundations of the papal power in the church of 
Rome. In another letter I shall point out its depar- 
ture from the teaching of our Saviour, 

Very sincerely and affectionately yours. 



LETTER IV. 

Boston, February 23, 1853. 
My dear S. . . : — In my previous letters, I showed 
you by Scripture, and the early fathers, canonized as 
saints by the church of Rome, that St. Peter, after 
the death of our Saviour, was on a level with the 
other disciples ; that St. Paul without any conference 
with him after his journey to Damascus^ for three 
years toiled in his mission to plant churches among 
the heathen, and after a brief visit to St. Peter, did not 
meet him again for fourteen years, when he returned 
to Jerusalem, and found James and his two associ- 
ates, " pillars of the church." I could also have cited 
the learned Eusebius, the first historian of the church, 
who was born in Palestine, a. d. 265, and enjoyed 
the favor of Constantine the Great, for Eusebius 
calls Paul " the holy, the first of the apostles," traces 
his descent from the tribe of Benjamin, and applies 
to him the prophecy of Isaiah, " There is little Ben- 
jamin their ruler," 1 as fulfilled in his teaching. I 
showed in my letters also, the early bishops of Rome 
neither were, nor claimed to be, for six centuries, 
universal bishops, or as you express it, " Catholic 
bishops," but by the admission of one of them, al- 
ways disclaimed such " a godless name," and regarded 
him who should take it as an antichrist." I proved 

1 Psalms 68: 27. 

(21) 



22 THE CATHOLIC. 

by Catholic testimony, that one of them joined 
the Arians, and was condemned with others by a 
general council ; how two of them were deposed, 
one for treason, another for profligacy, and how the 
title of Catholic bishop was conferred by an assassin 
and usurper, but little before the period when St. 
John and Irenseus predicted antichrist should come. 
I might proceed to show the evidence that one Ro- 
man bishop was murdered by the populace for his 
vices, how another became an infidel, and how the 
church before the Reformation generally believed 
another to have been a woman in disguise. I might 
trace the gradual progress of the Romish church 
during the dark ages, in its assumption of power, but 
I have other topics to consider and discuss, and must 
refer you to history for these details. I propose now 
to consider the " means " which Christ provided for 
the guidance of his church in after ages, which 
" have not fallen short " of the object, or failed when 
properly used, to preserve the church from error. 
Those means were the four gospels, the authentic 
record of Christ's mission, faith, and precepts, and 
the Acts and Epistles of his chosen disciples, con- 
fided to the bishops of the apostolic churches. These 
bishops met in council from time to time, to put 
down heresy by the authority of Holy Writ, when 
individuals yielded to error. This was a safe and 
reliable system, and the same standards, the Gospels, 
Epistles, and Acts, are transmitted to us. 

During the first six centuries questions were set- 
tled, not by the mysteries of the Gnostics, 1 but by 

1 Early hereties who claimed that there were mysteries and 
traditions which went beyond the letter of the gospel. 



THE CATHOLIC. 23 

Holy Writ. Like the prophet David, the holy- 
fathers of the church could say, " Thy word is a 
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." " The 
commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the 
eyes." And with Theophilactus, an early writer in 
the church, " The word of God is the candle whereby 
the thief is espied." 

St. Augustine, " the old saint " of whom you 
speak, the bishop of Hippo, in Africa, A. D. 393, a 
most valuable Catholic authority, says in his Essay, 1 
" Let not these words be heard between us, I say, or 
you say, let us rather speak in this wise, ' Thus saith 
the Lord.' " Again, he says in his essay against Pe- 
tilian, the Donatist, " Sive de Christo, sive de ejus 
Ecclesia, sive de quacunque re alia quse pertinet ad 
fidem vitamque nostram non dicam si nos sed si an- 
gelus de coelo nobis annunciaret praeterquam quod 
in scripturibus legalibus et evangelicis accepistis 
Anathema sit," virtually, " Let him be accursed even 
if an angel from heaven, who teaches otherwise than 
we have received in the words of the law and the gos- 
pels." Here is the testimony of a most learned and 
holy man, the great warrior and defender of the 
church, a Catholic saint, the prototype and model 
also, as the bishop of Salisbury writes of Luther and 
Calvin, and this last bishop lived in the same century 
with Luther. 2 

Again, St. Jerome says, 3 " Sed et alia qua? absque 
auctoritate et testimoniis scripturarum quasi tra- 
ditione apostolica reperiunt atque confingunt per- 

1 De Unitate Ecclesiaa against the Donatists, c. 3. 

2 See Jewell's Apology, .p. 27, note. 

3 In his treatise entitled In primum caput Aggai. 



24 THE CATHOLIC. 

cutit gladius dei." " Let the sword of the Lord 
destroy whatever else they pretend to find, or to rest 
on apostolic tradition, without the sanction of Scrip- 
ture." 

St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan from 375 to 397, in 
his letter to the emperor Gratian, says : l " Interro- 
gentur Scripturee ; interrogentur Apostoli ; interro- 
gentur Prophetse ; interrogetur Christus." 2 Again, 
the rule for the modern Christians is expressly point- 
ed out by St. Paul. He does not refer us for our 
faith to the nominee of an usurper, or the nominee 
of a conclave of cardinals, guided often by intrigue, 
artifice, or interest, but he says, 3 " All Scripture is 
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works." And in 
the same chapter, he tells Timothy, his early pupil, 
whose grandmother and mother were both devout 
Christians, who was himself the first bishop of the 
pure church at Ephesus, commended by Irenseus, as 
follows : " From a child thou hast known the holy 
Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto sal- 
vation, through faith vriiich is in Jesus Christ" 

Guided by this advice, Timothy presided over the 
church of Ephesus, and was there joined by St. 
John, the beloved disciple, who ministered there until 
the time of Trajan. May we not in modern times 
rely on what St. Paul, St. John, and their disciple, 

1 Ad Gratianum de fide, Liber I. 

2 Inquire of the Scriptures ; inquire of the apostles ; inquire of 
the prophets ; inquire of Christ. 

8 2 Timothy 3: 16. 



THE CATHOLIC. 25 

the first bishop of Ephesus, found sufficient "to 
make one wise unto salvation ? " 

Let us now trace the singular departures of the 
Romish church from the gospel, the apostles, and 
the early bishops and fathers of the church. I can- 
not forbear, however, to preface this inquiry by two 
quotations from Catholic authorities. First, St. Au- 
gustine says, " The church is to be shown by the 
sacred and canonical Scriptures, and that which can- 
not be shown by them, is not the church." 2 And St. 
Chrysostom says, 2 " Now can no man know which 
is the true church of Christ, except by the Scrip- 
tures." 

But the Romish church drives the people from 
these Scriptures, as something dangerous, and has 
dared to style them " a bare letter, uncertain, unprofita- 
ble, killing, and dead? How much more reliable 
was the interpretation of a traitor, a profligate, a here- 
tic, the tool of an usurper, or the "godless" man, 
whom a Roman pontiff designates as antichrist him- 
self? 

The Romish church has withdrawn the Holy 
Scriptures as far as possible from the people. Wit- 
ness the late acts of the pope, and the recent prose- 
cutions in Tuscany and Piedmont, and refer to the 
history of Europe for the last twelve centuries. Even 
while I write, the evening papers inform me that 
within the last thirty days the Romish priests have 
imprisoned a whole family in Piedmont, for presum- 

1 De Unitate Ecclesiae, Cap. HE. : •' Ecclesia ex sacris et canon- 
isis scripturis ostendenda est ; quseque ex illis ostendi non potest 
non est ecclesia." 

2 In opere imperfect, Horn. 49. 

3 



26 THE CATHOLIC. 

ing to read the translated Scriptures, and even our 
national flag has been lately violated by the seizure 
of the Bibles in an American ship in Sicily. 

For the first two centuries before the decree of the 
usurper Phocas, the primitive and universal usage of 
the Catholic church, was the stated reading of the 
Scriptures in public worship, and this we must re- 
member was before the day of printing, and was the 
most effective mode of reaching the people. For this 
fact, see the invaluable treatises of Justin Martyr, con- 
verted to Christianity at a mature age, A. d. 132, who 
addressed two letters in defence of Christianity, one 
in A. D. 150, to the emperor Antoninus, and the other 
to Marcus Aurelius and the Roman senate. 1 

And although our Saviour gave the gift of tongues, 
that his apostles might convert the heathen to his 
faith, the Romish church withdraws to a great ex- 
tent the Scriptures from the people, performs most 
of its services in an unknown tongue, and relies for 
the conversion of the people upon its own interpre- 
tation, and trusts to ceremonies, processions, can- 
dles, incense, oil, salt, holy water, masses, bulls, 
indulgences, jubilees, purgatory, transubstantiation, 
images, saints, shrines and orisons to the Virgin, 
and hymns like this, 

" Ave Mater Anna, 
Plena melle Canna," 

for the salvation of the soul. 

1 See Ms Apol. 2d, and the citations of Eusebius. For this, see 
also Tertullian in Apol. C. 39, Ad uxorem, Lib. II.; Cyprian 
Epist. L.V. Ep. 5 ; Origen, Horn. 15 in Josuam ; Chrysostom, Horn. 
19 ; Augustine, in Ps. 36 ; the fifth Council of Constantinople, 
A. I.; the Council of Laodicea, Canon 16. 



THE CATHOLIC. 27 

In opposition to the Church of Rome, Irenaeus, in 
whom it places the utmost reliance, about the year 
170, says : " The Scriptures are plain, and without 
doubtfulness, and may be heard indifferently of all 
men." 1 Clement of Alexandria, one of the early 
fathers, says in his Oratio ad Gentes, " Forasmuch 
as the word itself is come to us from heaven, we may 
not now any more seek after the doctrine of men." 
Chrysostom 2 tells us, " Thou wilt say, I have not 
heard the Scriptures. This is no excuse, but a sin." 
St. Augustine also says, " The judges and doctors of 
the church, as men, are often deceived." 3 Are the 
judges and doctors of the Romish church now holier 
or wiser than the holy fathers in the days of St. Au- 
gustine ? The same saint, again, in his treatise 
against the Pelagian heretic Julian, reproves him 
severely for arguing that the Scriptures should be 
read only by the learned, and observes, " You exag- 
gerate when you say how difficult it is and how in- 
convenient it is to all but a few learned men to 
acquire a knowledge of the Scripture." 4 A doctrine 
the saint condemns. 

Origen says, " Would to God we would all do 
according as it is written, ' Search the Scriptures.' " 5 

St. Jerome, also, expounding the words of the 
apostles, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you plen- 
teously," remarks : " Here we are taught, that the lay 



x Iren. advs Haer. L. I. c. 31. 
2 Homily 17, adHeb. 
3 L.IL c. 2. 

4 " Exaggeras quam sit difficilis, paucisque conveniens eruditis 
sanctarum cognitio literarum." 
5 Origen, Horn. 2 in Esa. 



28 THE CATHOLIC. 

people ought to have the Word of God, not only 
sufficiently, but also with abundance, and to teach 
and counsel one another." 1 

Such sayings are common in the works of St. Chry- 
sostom. 2 He recommends his readers "to take the 
Holy Book in hand, and call their neighbors about 
them, and refresh their minds." Again, 3 he recom- 
mends them to " read the Scriptures at home before 
and after meals." Again, 4 he tells them, " Hearken 
not hereto only in church, but also at home. Let 
the husband with the wife, and the father with the 
child, talk together of these matters, and give their 
judgments." Is not this conclusive evidence, that the 
Church of Rome in discountenancing the circulation 
and authority of the Scriptures, has departed alike 
from the precepts and practice of the apostles and 
early church ? 

In my next I will consider some of its other de- 
partures and peculiar dogmas. 

Very sincerely and affectionately yours. 

1 Hieron. in 3 Cap. Ep. ad Coloss. : strong testimony from the 
writer of the Vulgate. 

2 Horn. G in Gentes. 

3 Horn. 10 in Gentes. 

4 Horn. 2 in Johan. 



LETTER V. 

Boston, February 24, 1853. 

My dear S. . . : — The next departure from Holy 
Writ, made by the Church of Rome, to which I will 
draw your attention, is the exclusion of the people 
from the elements at the communion. Our Saviour 
brake bread and blessed it and gave it with the cup 
to his disciples, the humble fishermen of Galilee, but 
the Romish church professed to be wiser than our 
Saviour, and excluded the people from the cup, and 
in private masses from the bread, which he bade them 
to take in remembrance of him. 

The apostles in their canons cited by Anacletus, 
say, 1 " Whoso entereth the church, and heareth 
the Scriptures, and receiveth not the communion, 
let him be excommunicated as a disturber of the 
church and breaker of the public order." 

Gelasius I., bishop of Rome 492, says, respecting 
the people, " Aut integra sacramenta percipiant aut 
ab integris arceantur quia divisio unius ejusdemque 
mysterii sine grandi sacrilegio non potest pervenire." 2 

The celebrated letter of Pliny to the emperor Tra- 
jan, respecting the ancient Christians, 3 is on this 

1 Canon 10. 

2 " Let them receive the whole sacrament, or abstain from all, for 
a division of the same mystery cannot be effected without a great 
sacrilege." 

8 Letter 97th, 2d vol. of Melmoth's Pliny. 

3 * (29) 



30 THE CATHOLIC. 

point worthy of your attention. It is written within 
forty years after the death of St. Paul, and was 
often appealed to by the ancient Christian writ- 
ers, as evidence of the purity of their doctrines 
against the calumnies of their adversaries. Pliny 
states, that when arrested, or summoned before 
him, these Christians affirmed they met on a certain 
stated day, before it was light, and addressed them- 
selves in a form of prayer to Christ, as to some god, 
binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for any 
wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, 
or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a 
trust when they should be called to deliver it up ; 
after which it was their custom to separate, and then 
reassemble to eat in common a harmless meal. Is 
not this a strong confirmation from a learned and 
most reliable pagan philosopher, that all participated 
in the Lord's supper ? 

The Greek church, which separated on the ques- 
tion of Easter-day does not follow the Romish er- 
rors in the administration of the Eucharist. But 
the Church of Rome has introduced an innovation 
on all ancient usages, namely, the Mass. In public 
masses the cup is reserved, and in private masses 
both cup and bread are confined to the clergy. 

In countries where the Church of Rome is estab- 
lished, masses are bought and sold, and when the 
communion is sent to the sick, it is borne under a 
canopy in solemn procession, and all who pass must 
bow the knee in adoration to the bread and wine. 

This brings me to the doctrine of Transubstantia- 
tion, another departure from the apostles and ancient 
church, under which departure bread and ivine are 
adored. What say the holy fathers to this doctrine ? 



THE CATHOLIC. 31 

St. Ambrose denies the doctrine in his treatise. 1 

Gelasius, bishop of Rome, A. D. 492, says, 2 " Neither 
the substance of the bread, nor the nature of the 
wine ceases to be ; " 3 conclusive evidence from Rome 
herself, and yet she rejects the testimony and au- 
thority of her infallible pontiff. 

Theodoret, bishop of Cyricus, in Syria, A. D. 420, 
uses this clear and strong language : i " After the 
consecration, the mystical signs do not cast off their 
own proper nature, for they remain still in their 
former substance, nature, and kind" 

Origen confirms this view in his Commentaries on 
Matthew, c. 15. 

The eloquent and learned Tertullian, in his article, 
De Resurrectione, says : " Christ is to be received in 
the cause of life ; to be devoured by hearing ; to be 
ruminated upon by the mind, and digested by 
faith." 5 

Saint Cyprian (de coena Domini) says : " Faith is 
for the soul the same that food is for the flesh." 6 

Saint Cyril, bishop of Alexandria from A. d. 412 to 
A. d. 444, writes as follows : 7 " Dost thou say our 
sacrament is the eating of a man, and dost thou 
irreverently force the mind of the faithful into gross 
cogitations, and goest thou about with natural imag- 

1 De Sacramento, L. IV. 

2 In his treatise contra Eutychetum. 

8 " Non desinit esse substantia panis vel natura vini." 
4 Opera Theod. Tom. IV. p. 126. 

5 " Christus in causa vitae recipiendus, devorandus auditu ; 
ruminandus intellectu ; et fide digerendus est." 
6 " Quod est esca carni hoc est animas fides." 
7 Anathematismo, II. 



32 THE CATHOLIC. 

inations, to deal with those things that are to be 
received by only pure and perfect faith." 

Leo, bishop of Rome, A. d. 440-461, says r 1 " About 
this body gather eagles, which fly with spiritual 
wings, the wings of faith." 

To finish this point, let us consult Augustine, that 
saint of the Romish calendar, a devout man and 
clear witness, as you describe him. He tells us, 2 
" "What we see is bread ; what the eyes present to 
us is the cup ; but that which faith would teach is, 
that the bread is the body of Christ, and the cup his 
blood." 3 And again he says, " Christ has lifted up 
his body into heaven, from which he shall come to 
judge the quick and the dead. There he is now sit- 
ting at the right hand of the Father. How then is 
the bread his body, and the cup, or what is in the 
cup, how is it his blood ? " Again, 4 " We have no 
special regard to the bread, wine, or water, for they 
are creatures corruptible, as well after consecration as 
they were before, but we direct our faith only unto 
the very body and blood of Christ, not as being 
there really and fleshly present, but as sitting in 
heaven at the right of God the Father." 

What could be more clear, what more explicit; 
and yet in the face of this mass of testimony, re- 
gardless of ancient popes and saints, the pope bids 

1 Quoted in the Canon Law., Dist. 2. 

2 In sermone ad Infantes, quoted in the Canon Law, Dist. 11. 
8 " Quod videtur panis est et calix quod etiam oculi renuntiant. 

Quod antem fides postulat instruenda, panis est corpus Christi ; 
Calix Sanguis." 
* In Genes, Horn. 24. 



THE CATHOLIC. 33 

you at " the elevation of the host," and the tinkling 
of a bell, to prostrate yourself in adoration of these 
" corruptible creatures." This brings me to another 
usurpation, the strange doctrine of Purgatory. Until 
the Council of Trent, three centuries since, a Roman 
Catholic was not required to receive it as an arti- 
cle of faith, but the sale of masses, pardons, and 
indulgencies, to raise funds for Rome, had been so 
extensive that the Church of Rome was then com- 
pelled, under the pressure of the Reformers, to en- 
deavor to sustain itself by adopting Purgatory as an 
article of faith. 

You rest Purgatory on St. Peter's 1st Epistle, 1 
in substance as follows : " That Christ died for our 
sins, but enlivened in the spirit, preached to those spir- 
its that were imprison? To my mind this verse is made 
clear by the verse which follows, in which " spirits " 
are spoken of as disobedient in the time of Noah, in 
consequence of which only eight souls were saved. 
St. Peter speaks, also, in his second Epistle, of " be- 
ing in this tabernacle," of " putting off this taberna- 
cle himself, as his Lord Jesus had shown him." 2 He 
speaks of those " who walk after the flesh, in the lust 
of uncleanness, as servants of corruption, for of whom 
a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bond- 
age." The exposition of the verses you cite, is, to my 
mind, perfectly easy. In the time of Noah, those 
spirits imprisoned in the flesh, were disobedient, and 
all perished, except the eight souls saved with Noah. 
But in the days of the apostles, our Saviour having 
put off the flesh, appeared in his spiritual nature to 

1 1 Peter 3 : 18 : 19. 8 2 Peter 2:19. 



34 THE CATHOLIC. 

his disciples, who were spirits still in the prison of 
the flesh, and preached to them in their prison, and 
by his baptism, previously conferred, and his resur- 
rection and ascent into heaven, where he has power 
over all, saved them as God saved Noah and his as- 
sociates in the ark. 

This is my exposition as a jurist, and I expound 
the passage as I would a deed, by the context, and 
other deeds of the grantor ; and if you will read the 
third chapter of St. Peter's first Epistle, from the 
sixteenth verse to the close, I think you will agree 
with me, he is advising his followers to keep a good 
conscience, to preserve their spiritual nature pure 
while still tenants of corruptible flesh, and still 
prisoners here ; for Christ suffered for them, appeared 
and preached to them, and ascended into heaven, 
where he has power to save those who obey, as Noah 
saved the righteous few in his ark. But is the un- 
natural, or at least doubtful, exposition of a single 
verse by the Roman See, an exposition apparently 
bent to a particular purpose, and not sustained by 
our Saviour or his apostles in any other part of the 
gospels, a sufficient basis for the doctrine of Pur- 
gatory ? The Greek, or Eastern church, now estab- 
lished in Russia, Austria, Turkey, and Greece, does 
not admit the doctrine of Purgatory, and yet the 
Eastern and Western bishops differed principally, if 
not entirely, on the question of Easter-day, when the 
two churches separated. May we not safely infer 
from this fact, that it is an innovation of the West- 
ern church ? But you think that Purgatory has been 
admitted by the holy fathers. If so, where and 
when? St. Augustine certainly knew of no such 



THE CATHOLIC. 35 

admission, and could not convince himself of its 
truth ; he says, " that such a thing may be after this 
life, is not incredible." " But what means this," he 
adds, " and what sins be there which so prevent men 
from coming into the kingdom of God that they 
may notwithstanding obtain pardon by the merits of 
holy friends, it is very hard to find, and very danger- 
ous to determine. Certainly, I myself, notwithstand- 
ing great study and travail in that behalf, could 
never attain to the knowledge of it." Again, he 
says, " For such as every man in this day shall die, 
even such on that day shall he be judged." 

And to this effect elsewhere. 1 

Surely St. Augustine did not put the Romish con- 
struction on the verse in Peter, or see his way clear 
to believe in Purgatory. If it rests neither on Scrip- 
ture, or the early canons and councils of the church, 
and I refer you to each, is it not a Romish innova- 
tion upon Holy "Writ ? 

I will discuss other errors of Rome in subsequent 
letters. 

Very sincerely and affectionately yours. 

1 De comitate Dei, Epistolse 80, Horn. 11, In apocalyps. Ad Pe- 
trum, Cap 3, In Johan. Tract 49; 



LETTER VI. 

Boston, February 25, 1853. 

My Dear S. . . : — In my preceding letter I ad- 
verted to the errors of Rome, in partially withhold 
ing the Lord's supper from the people, in the adora- 
tion of mere bread and wine, and in the adoption of 
Purgatory, as an article of faith, for which St. Au- 
gustine can find no authority. Let us now consider 
the supremacy and infallibility claimed for the 
pope. I am aware the Romish church divides on 
this question into the Cisalpine and Transalpine 
parties. A portion, including the monarchs and 
bishops of France, restrain such prerogative, and 
require the concurrence of general councils in new 
articles of faith. Both parties, however, claim to be 
Roman Catholics. I might well ask whether this 
schism is not quite as serious, as some of the ques- 
tions which divide the Protestants, the question of a 
liturgy or oral prayers, the question of baptism by 
sprinkling or immersion, or the government by pres- 
byters or bishops with a council in either case. I 
will not pause to dwell on this point, but will con- 
sider the doctrine of a large portion of the Church 
of Rome, that the pope is personally infallible, and 
also, by divine right supreme. 

The man who joins the Roman Catholics, is 
obliged "publicly to repeat and certify his assent 

(36) 



THE CATHOLIC. 37 

to its creed, without qualification and restriction." 
That creed contains the following sentence : — 

" I promise (or swear) true obedience to the Roman 
bishop, the successor of St. Peter, the prince of the 
apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ." - And the fur- 
ther sentence, " This true Catholic faith, out of which 
none can be saved, which I now freely profess and 
truly hold, I, A. B., or C. D., promise, now and 
ever, most constantly to hold and profess, whole and 
entire, with God's assistance, to the end of my life." 

What is this power to be obeyed to the end of life, 
as held and exercised by the popes of Rome ? 

The above creed " was set forth " by Pope Pius 
IV. A. d. 1564, as the universally received summary 
of the Roman Catholic system. 1 

His successor, Pius V., by a bull issued under his 
plenary power, undertook to depose Queen Elizabeth, 
and absolve her subjects from allegiance, and the 
Roman Catholic prelates generally acquiesced. Here 
is an illustration of the temporal power, claimed and 
exercised by the pope, whom the Roman Catholic 
swears to obey. 

As to his spiritual power, Butler, a modern and 
able Roman Catholic, in his work published a few 
years since, 2 defines the spiritual power of the pope 
as follows : — 

" It is an article of the Roman Catholic faith, that 
the pope has by divine right, first, a supremacy of 
rank; second, a supremacy of jurisdiction in the 
spiritual concerns of the Roman Catholic church, 

1 See the Church of Rome, by Bishop Hopkins, p. 336. 

2 Entitled the "Book of the Roman Catholic Church," p. 114. 

4 



38 THE CATHOLIC* 

and third, the principal authority in denning articles 
of faith. In consequence of these prerogatives, the 
pope holds a rank splendidly preeminent over the 
highest dignitaries of the church ; has a right to con- 
vene councils, and preside over them by himself or 
his legates, and confirm the election of bishops. 
Every ecclesiastical cause may be brought to him as 
the last resort by appeal ; he may promulgate defini- 
tions and formularies of faith to the universal 
church, and when the general body or a great ma- 
jority of her prelates have assented to them, either 
by formal consent, or tacit assent, all are bound to 
acquiesce in them. Rome, they say in such a case, 
has spoken, and the cause is determined." 

The Transalpine party go much further. Prienas, 
the champion of the pope against Luther, who died 
A. d. 1523, used even stronger language : " Indulgen- 
ces are not known to us by the authority of the 
Scriptures, but by the authority of the Roman 
church, and of the bishops of Rome, which is 
greater." 1 It is unnecessary to follow out the trans- 
alpine theories to their full extent, for without them 
we have shown the nature and extent of this su- 
premacy and infallibility. 

Claiming to represent the humble fisherman, St. 
Peter, who, apostle as he was, erred more than once, 
both before and after the crucifixion, and who de- 
served as well as received the rebuke of both our 
Saviour and St. Paul, the bishops of Rome have 
in the seventh century first denounced, and then 
grasped at the rank of universal bishops. Commenc- 

1 Prienas eon. Luthcrum. 



THE CATHOLIC. 39 

ing with no territory in the eighth century, and acquir- 
ing by gift, first Ravenna, and by slow degrees the 
other States of the church, during ages debased by 
ignorance, the parent of superstition, we find them, 
in 1564, wielding alike the civil and spiritual sword, 
subjecting Holy Writ to their dominion, and arrogat- 
ing in addition the power to depose monarchs, and 
absolve subjects from their allegiance, and find the 
Romish church assenting, if not approving. 

What intelligent American, who respects the words 
of Holy Writ, the precepts of the apostles, the testi- 
mony of the fathers, who loves his country, reveres 
her laws, takes pride in her independence, who is 
" bound to swear to the words of no master," 2 who 
would not change his creed or his faith at the bid- 
ding of others, and who, if he joins the Church of 
Rome, cannot obey his future convictions of duty, 
without becoming an apostate, would venture to 
adopt and profess the Roman Catholic faith in the 
nineteenth century ? Recur to the past. Have your 
opinions been so unchangeable, and your obedience 
so exact, and is your knowledge at seventeen so per- 
fect, that you have entire confidence in yourself for 
the whole residue of life ? 

Compare for a moment the meek bishop of Rome 
in the second century, with the proud pontiff of 
modern times, " elected by cardinals, who place him 
on the high altar, thrice bow their knees to him in 
adoration, then bear him to a throne, place on his 
head the triple crown, and remind him that he is the 

1 " Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." — Juvenal. 



40 THE CATHOLIC. 

father of princes and kings, and the ruler of the 
world, the vicar of Jesus Christ our Saviour." Where 
was the tiara, the sword of church and state, where 
the ruler of the world, when the blessed Basil, 
bishop of Cappadocia A. D. 370, writes to the blessed 
Athanasius, pope of Alexandria, to interest the 
bishops of the Western Empire in behalf of their 
Eastern brethren, and urges, " Who is more influen- 
tial in performing such a design than thou, who is 
more acute in discovering what is expedient, who 
more efficient in performing what is profitable, who 
more prone to grieve for the afflictions of his breth- 
ren ? What is more highly venerated than thy hoary 
head by the whole Western church ? " " Send some 
men from thy church who are powerful in sound 
doctrines to the Western bishops." In the same let- 
ter, St. Basil speaks of the church of Antioch, as 
" the head of the churches," and of the church of 
Nicopolis, as the " Mother church." * Why is there 
not here some slight allusion to Rome, or to her 
sovereign pontiff, if he then existed as a power suf- 
ficient to influence and guide the Western bishops ? 
Where were the supremacy and infallibility of 
Rome, when the " most blessed Jerome " wrote, 
about the close of the fourth century, as follows : 
" Gaul and Britain, Africa, India, and the East, and 
all the barbarous nations adore one Christ, observe 
one rule of truth ; if authority is sought for, the 
world is greater than one city ; wherever there is a 
bishop, whether at Rome, or Eugubium, or Con- 

1 See Basil, Ep. Athanasio Opera Omnia, Vol. III. p. 159. 



THE CATHOLIC. 41 

stantinople, or Rhegium, or Alexandria, or Sardis, he 
is of the same excellency, of the same episcopate." * 

By Butler's summary of the universal doctrine of 
the Roman Catholics as to the supremacy, we see 
the power is now conceded to the pope of Rome, by 
all Roman Catholics, to convene councils and pre- 
side over them himself or by his legates, but the 
blessed Athanasius, who shone at the great Councils 
of Nice and Sardis, attended by more than three 
hundred bishops, informs us they were both called 
by the emperor ; that the bishop of Rome attended 
both by his legates, and on both occasions the ven- 
erable Hosius, a bishop of Spain, who must have 
represented one of St. Paul's churches, presided, 
while the Emperor Constantine addresses Athanasius 
as Pope Athanasius. History is silent as to the pre- 
tensions of the see of Rome to infallibility and su- 
premacy at these celebrated councils. What a 
contrast do they present to the Council of Trent and 
the modern claims of the " ruler of the world ! " 

And when we see this pretended "ruler of the 
world," seated as he is, at his coronation, on the high 
altar of St. Peters, and the cardinals kneeling before 
him in adoration ; when we see in the Clementines 
and decretals, sanctioned by the popes, and cited by 
Jewell, such expressions as these, " The pope is not 
man," " The pope is the wonder of the world," 
"Stupor Mundi," "Our Lord God the pope." 
When we read the profane language of his cham- 
pions, Marcellus, Cardellus, and Angellus, " Thou 
art another God on earth," " Purgatory is the do- 

Hieron. Evagrio Opera Omnia, Vol. II. p. 221. 

4* 



42 THE CATHOLIC. 

main of the pope," " A terrestrial God," what think 
you of the prophecy of St. Paul, 1 that before the 
day of Christ there shall " come a falling away, and 
the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who 
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as God, sit- 
teth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is 
God." " Even him whose coming is after the working 
of Satan, with all power and signs and lying won- 
ders, and with all the deceivableness of unrighteous- 
ness in them that perish ; " " and for this cause God 
shall send them strong delusions that they should be- 
lieve a lie." " Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold 
the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by 
word or our epistle" And is there not reason to 
apply the predictions of St. Peter himself against his 
successors, 2 in which he counsels his followers " to 
add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge," 
and other acquirements ; " for if ye do these things 
ye shall never fall ; " for " there shall be false teach- 
ers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable 
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them," 
" and many shall follow their pernicious ways," and 
" through covetousness shall they with feigned words 
make merchandise of you." Does St. Peter, when 
he speaks of adding to faith virtue, and to virtue 
knowledge, sanction the dogma of Rome that " ig- 
norance is the mother of devotion," and when he 
speaks of damnable heresies to be avoided by faith, 
virtue, and knowledge, and speaks of those who 
shall deny the Lord, and with feigned words make 

1 2 Thessalonians 2 : 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 15. 

2 2 Peter 1 : 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 2 : 1-3. 



THE CATHOLIC. 43 

merchandise of man, does he not caution his follow- 
ers against the dangers of ignorance as well as vice; 
against those who exalt the creature above the 
Creator, and against those who by pardons, indul- 
gences and masses, shrines, relics, crosiers, and tiaras, 
by images, candles, and purgatory, make merchan- 
dise of men ? Should not the sinner, to save himself, 
instead of listening to feigned words, add to his 
faith knowledge and virtue, and hold fast to the 
word and the epistles of the apostles ? 

And let me ask you when the Roman Catholic 
church adopts as an article of its faith in modern 
times, the supremacy of the pope, claimed and 
exercised by that prelate, and the further articles 
of purgatory and transubstantiation, can you say 
with confidence that " church has not varied one 
iota in the faith from the time of the apostles 
down?" 

But the topic is exhausted. Let us pass to the 
adoration of the Virgin Mary, of saints, images, 
shrines, and relics, as practised by the Church of 
Rome, abuses which crept into the church during the 
ages of superstition and barbarism ; when the Roman 
Catholics held that " ignorance was the mother of 
devotion ; " that " ignorance highly pleaseth God 
and is sufficient to salvation," or, as Cardinal Cu- 
sanus expresses it, " Irrational obedience is the most 
perfect obedience." 1 

But these topics must prolong my correspondence 
to another letter. 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 

1 " Obedientia irrationalis est consummata obediential Nicol. 
Cusan. Excit. L. VI. Ubi Ecclesia. 



LETTER VII. 

Boston, February 26, 1853. 

My dear S. . . : — In my preceding letters I pointed 
out to you how much the supremacy and infallibil- 
ity of the popes of Rome were at variance with the 
pretensions of St. Peter, both before and after the 
crucifixion ; how much they conflicted with the equal 
rights conferred on both Western and Eastern bish- 
ops before the Council of Nice ; and how far they 
exceeded the very equal and moderate power given 
by that great Council of Bishops, over which Hosius, 
of Spain, presided, to the patriarchs of Rome, Alex- 
andria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. I showed you also 
how the See of Rome, gradually extending its arms 
and its claims during ages of barbarism and super- 
stition, has created a sovereign who assumes the 
triple crown, the civil and spiritual sword, arrogates 
the power to depose sovereigns, to absolve subjects 
from allegiance, receives adoration on the high altar 
of our Lord, a sovereign to whom, if you join the 
Church of Rome, you are to promise or sivear im- 
plicit and enduring obedience. 

Let us now glance at some of the abuses which 
the usurper has sanctioned in his path to power. 
Let us consider the worship of the Virgin Mary, of 
saints, images, relics, and shrines. 

St. Paul, in Holy Writ, gives the assurance that 

(4*) 



THE CATHOLIC. 45 

" Neither have we any other Mediator and Interces- 
sor by whom we may have access to God the 
Father, but only Jesus Christ : in whose name only 
all things are obtained at his Father's hands." 2 

But the Church of Rome worships the Virgin 
Mary, and allows such adoration to be offered to her 
as follows : — 

" Holy Mother of God, who hast worthily merited 
to conceive him whom the whole world could not 
comprehend, by thy pious intervention, wash away our 
sins, that so being redeemed by thee we may be able 
to ascend to the seat of everlasting glory, where 
thou abidest with thy son forever." 2 

And again a similar worship and prayer : — 

" Let our voice first celebrate Mary, through whom 
the rewards of life are given unto us. O queen, thou 
who art a mother and yet a chaste virgin, pardon our 
sins through thy son." 3 Even Cardinal Bembus, 
the pope's secretary, in an official letter to Charles 
V., the great Emperor of Spain and Germany, 4 calls 
the virgin " our lady and goddess." And the sea- 
man when he commenced his voyage, the palmer 
when he began his pilgrimage, and the knight when 
he went forth to fight the Saracen, were sent to pay 
their orisons at her shrine, and to bow before her 
image. 

Again, the churches have been filled with her pic- 
tures and statues, and with images of saints. A 
patron saint has been found for nearly every Roman 

1 See 1 Timothy 2: 5. Bom. 8: 34. Eph. 2: 18. 3: 12. 

2 See Collect in Hor. Paris, Fol. 4. 

3 Ibid. Fol. 80. 

4 Bembus, in Epist. ad Carol. V. 



46 THE CATHOLIC. 

Catholic village, and saints have been recognized for 
various diseases, to whom sufferers are encouraged to 
address prayers, and to make votive offerings if relief 
be obtained. The images of the virgin, and saints 
with their shrines, like the statues of the heathen 
divinities, and like the shrine of the chaste goddess 
Diana at Ephesus, against which St. Paul bore wit- 
ness, have been fashioned from precious metals, and 
decorated with gold, silver, and jewels. 

Statues and images are borne in solemn procession 
through churches and streets, with pomp, ceremony, 
and display. Waxen candles have been burned before 
them, while salt, oil, legends, and relics, real or pre- 
tended, have been, and are still used with imposing 
ceremonies, to impress the ignorant and supersti- 
tious. 

Now let me ask you, because the Holy Virgin is 
said in Holy Writ to be blessed among women, and 
is called blessed in our prayerbook, and in the writ- 
ings of St. Augustine, does it follow, as a necessary 
consequence, that she is to be made the queen of 
heaven, created a deity and a goddess, endowed with 
the power of pardoning sins, and that the follower 
of Christ must bow his knee before her image and 
shrine, enriched with gold and jewels, like those of 
the Virgin Diana of the Ephesians, and is he to pre- 
sent his gifts at her altar, and offer up his adoration 
to her image, or herself? 

If this homage was sanctioned by our Saviour 
or his apostles, or authorized by the councils of 
the Catholic church during the first two centuries, 
refer me to the authorities. As respects the use 
of images in churches, not only is it against the 



THE CATHOLIC. 47 

language of Scripture, but the Council convened 
at Grenada, Spain, about A. D. 300, and still held 
in high respect, condemn the practice. The blessed 
Augustine, Tertullian, Lactantius, with Theodoras, 
bishop of Ancyra, join in the condemnation of such 
a usage; and Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, in 
Cyprus, where St. Paul planted a church, who died 
about the age of seventy, a.d. 403, on his return 
from Constantinople, writes as follows : " My chil- 
dren, be mindful that ye bring no images into the 
churches, and that ye erect none in the cemeteries 
of the saints, but evermore carry God in your 
hearts. Nay, suffer not images to be; no not in 
your private houses, for it is not lawful to lead a 
Christian man by his eyes, but rather by the study 
and exercise of his mind." 1 

The same bishop adds in a passage cited on the 
same page, " Therefore when I saw the image of a 
man to hang in the church of Christ, contrary to the 
commandment of Scriptures, I tare it in sunder, and 
gave counsel to the wardens of that church that they 
should wind and bury some poor body in it." A 
very summary act of the bishop of the diocese, and 
certainly a novel use for paintings. 

The introduction of images appears to have had 
little countenance from the church, until the Empress 
Irene, after the pope of Rome assumed the title of 
Catholic, convened the second Council of Nice, as 
late as a. d. 787, and awed that tumultuous meeting 
into a compliance with her wishes. The Council of 
Frankfort, A. D. 794, approved a book of the Emperor 

1 Epiphanius, cited in Jewell's Apology, page 150. 



48 THE CATHOLIC. 

Charlemagne, censuring the decision of the second 
Council of Nice, and forbidding the worship of images. 
And do you not discover in the use of images in 
churches a conformity to the heathens, whose divini- 
ties had their statues of gold and marble ? 

By the host held on high, and borne in solemn 
procession through the streets, are you not reminded 
of the sacred fire of the Persians, which they termed 
Orimasda, their god, and which their kings used to 
carry before them on horseback? And do not the- 
waxen candles remind you of the vestal fires of the 
pagan Romans ? Has not the church lent itself to 
their idolatry to increase its influence ? Give me, if 
you can, the sanction of our Saviour or his apostles 
for the adoration of the virgin or the saints, for 
kneeling before their shrines or images, or decorating 
them with gold, silver, or votive offerings, or approv- 
ing of palls, mitres, crosiers, or tiaras, or of indul- 
gences and purgatory, of relics, shrines, and waxen 
candles, of innumerable holidays, carnivals, and jubi- 
lees, and last, not least, directing the elevation and 
adoration of the host. 

I pass to the next important topic, the celibacy of 
the Roman Catholic clergy. We have the authority 
of Holy Writ for the fact that St. Peter, the alleged 
founder and first prelate of the Church of Rome, was 
himself a married man, for we find *• that when Jesus 
was come unto Peter's house, " He saw his vrife's 
mother laid and sick of a fever, and he touched her 
hand and the fever left her, and she arose and minis- 
tered unto them." He mentions also his son Mar- 

1 Matthew 8:14. 



THE CATHOLIC. 49 

cus. 1 This, however, may have been Mark, the 
apostle. St. Peter, also, 2 speaks of the marriage 
state as honorable, for he names, among the holy 
women of old who trusted in the Lord, Sarah, who 
obeyed her husband Abraham, God's chosen prophet 
and minister. He directs wives to be chaste and 
gentle, to obey their husbands, and thus win them to 
the truth, and to seek the ornament of a meek and 
quiet spirit, a priceless jewel in the sight of God, 
preferable to plaiting the hair, or wearing of gold or 
apparel. He counsels husbands to honor and dwell 
with their wives as common heirs of the grace of 
life, so that their prayers be not hindered, and 3 coun- 
sels all he addresses " to be ready to give an answer 
to every one that asketh them for the hope that is in 
them." And St. Paul, addressing Timothy in one 
of the Eastern churches, whose observances the 
Greek church now follows, writes, " A bishop then 
must be blameless, the husband of one wife." 4 The 
early historians of the church, Sozemen and Theophy- 
lactus, commend the marriage of the clergy, and two 
of the earliest provincial councils held at Ancyra and 
Gangra in Paphligonia, the latter Jfc D. 360 ; and some 
of the earliest canons of the Eastern churches au- 
thorize the marriage of men in holy orders. Some 
learned doctors among the Roman Catholics admit 
that the marriage of the clergy was lawful until the 
era of Pope Siricus, bishop of Rome, A. D. 385. 

The blessed Chrysostom, who lived twenty years 
after this period, expressly says, that " It is an honest 

1 l Peter 5: 13. 2 Ibid. 3:1-6. 

3 Ibid. 3:16. 4 1 Timothy 3 : 2. 



50 THE CATHOLIC. 

and lawful thing for a man living in matrimony, to 
take upon him therewith the dignity of a bishop." 
Chrysostom was himself a presbyter of Antioeh, one 
of the most ancient seats of Christianity, and subse- 
quently bishop of Constantinople, the seat of empire. 
I find by reference to the standard work of McCul- 
loch, that in Russia, which A. D. 1838 contained fifty- 
nine millions of people, more than fifty millions 
were of the Greek church, and the residue either 
Lutherans, Mahometans, or Pagans, with some 
Catholics, principally in the provinces last conquered. 
I find it there stated, under the head of religion, that 
the uniform practice in the Greek church, is for those 
taking holy orders to marry. Indeed, the canon law 
is so imperative, that no priest or bishop is allowed 
to officiate until he enters the holy state of marriage, 
and upon the death of his wife, is suspended until 
he marries again. The church is guided by a patri- 
arch, whose predecessor removed to Russia from 
Constantinople upon the fall of the Greek empire. 
And it is well understood that the female members 
of the Greek church, stand higher with respect to 
chastity, than females in Roman Catholic countries. 
If, then, the theory of the Romish church should be 
assumed to be true, that our Saviour selected Peter 
to be the future ruler of his church, and intrusted to 
him the gates of heaven, he selected for the first 
prelate a married man, one who approved of mar- 
riage in the clergy, for he refers to Abraham, God's 
chosen prophet and minister, who was ready to sac- 
rifice his son Isaac upon the altar, and refers also 
to Sarah, his holy wife, and bids the husbands to 
" honor and dwell with their wives, the coheirs of 
salvation." 



THE CATHOLIC. 51 

Does not Peter, by his example, his citation, and 
his precepts, clearly show that bishops and priests 
may marry ; and are his successors holier than their 
alleged first bishop, the first and oldest apostle of our 
Saviour, or more deserving of respect than the holy 
fathers who lived before the inroads of barbarism, 
and were accustomed to visit the churches planted 
by the apostles ? 

Again, let us recur to the fact, that Greek and 
Romish churches were governed by the same coun- 
cils and rules, until they separated upon the mere 
question of Easter-day. In the words of the blessed 
Jerome, " Gaul and Britain and Africa, the East, 
and India, and all the barbarous nations adored one 
Christ, and observed one rule of truth in the early 
ages of Christianity," and you observe he includes 
"the British almost severed from the world." 1 In 
the Greek church, the marriage of the clergy is not 
only authorized, but absolutely required. Now if we 
find that the marriage of the clergy has been found 
conducive to virtue, and a check to profligacy ; if we 
see a precedent for it in the party alleged to be the 
first primate of Rome, and in the precepts of St. 
Peter; if we find further, that the bishops of the 
Greek churches, the modern representative of the 
Eastern, uniformly adhere to the ancient usage,' have 
we not an accumulation of evidence that the Romish 
church has departed from the truth ? 

And whether you ascribe it to the ascetic rules of 
monks, who aspired to unusual sanctity in the dark 
ages, to a desire to sink all worldly and carnal 

1 " Et penitus toto divisis orbe Britannis." 



52 THE CATHOLIC. 

thoughts in a devotion to God, or, what may well be 
argued from established facts, to a deep design on 
the part of the Roman pontiffs, to secure a devotion 
to the advancement of their power, the constrained 
celibacy of the clergy has no sanction in the early 
church. Indeed, such departures from the truth are 
predicted by the great Apostle to the Gentiles, in- 
spired by a heavenly vision, who foretells 1 " That in 
the latter days some shall depart from the faith, giv- 
ing heed to seducing spirits, forbidding to marry, 
and commanding to abstain from meats, which God 
has created to be received with thanksgiving of them 
which believe and know the truth." 

In my next letters I will notice your replies, and 
draw a few deductions from the errors of Rome. 
Yours, truly and affectionately. 

}1 Timothy 4: 1,3. 



LETTER VIII. 

Boston, February 27, 1853. 
My dear S. . . : — I acknowledge your several letters 
of February 14th, 19th, and 24th, to which I propose 
to reply seriatim, after disposing of all that remains 
of your letter of the 4th current, in which you ad- 
vance the following bold propositions, namely, that 
the Church of Rome is 

1. The only universal or Catholic church. 

2. The only apostolic or primitive church. 

3. The only church which has preserved its unity. 

4. That no dissenters from the authority of the 
pope existed before the time of Luther. 

5. That the Catholic church has not varied one 
iota in the faith from the time of the apostles. 

6. That if you can be shown one place (where 
men have any idea of the Christian religion) where 
Roman Catholicism does not exist, you will be a 
Protestant. 

7. That the Episcopal church has neither unity, 
catholicity, nor apostolicity, and is of course heret- 
ical. 

8. You ask where is he to whom the keys of 
heaven and hell are given, and the church to which 
God has promised the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against it, and without doubt refer to St. Peter 
and the Church of Rome. 

5* (53) 



54 THE CATHOLIC. 

I have felt it my duty to pause in my professional 
pursuits, and assail each of these positions. I assail 
them with such forces as a layman may command. 
You make a partial defence, and then propose to 
change your ground and present a new question for 
discussion, which I now learn comes from a Roman 
Catholic bishop. You propose to discuss the inten- 
tions of our Saviour, to assume that he would create 
a church sufficient to teach his gospel to those born 
after his crucifixion, and to draw from such inten- 
tions, and the antiquity of the Church of Rome, the 
inference that it must be the true exponent of the 
word of God. Is not this mere casuistry? Is it 
safe for man to assume the intentions of our Sav- 
iour? or after assuming these intentions, to infer 
from that assumption the sufficiency of an ancient 
church without regarding its errors ? This is but a 
ruse, an artifice, a mere appeal to fancy or supersti- 
tion, and I cannot permit it to divert me from the 
facts at issue. 

Let me now recur to the points you have ad- 
vanced. First. I have shown that the Church of 
Rome does not pervade the world. I have shown 
the Greek church engrosses a large part of Russia, 
Turkey, Greece, and Germany, while the Protestant 
faith is gradually overspreading the globe. I will 
concede to you, that at the close of the third century 
the true church of Christ was established and per- 
vaded the world, but it does not follow therefrom 
that the Church of Rome is the same at this mo- 
ment, or has the same universality. 

Christianity made rapid progress under the teach- 
ing of the apostles. It had to encounter in the 



THE CATHOLIC. 55 

Roman Empire, which then embraced the civilized 
world, a state religion, venerable for its antiquity, its 
mythology, and its association with both poetry and 
history. It had its oracles and temples, its sacred 
fountains and groves, its statues of gods, goddesses, 
and deified heroes. Its votaries from childhood 
bowed down to them, and offered worship and 
sacrifices, and when their religion was assailed, ex- 
claimed, Great is Jupiter, great is Apollo, great is 
Diana of the Ephesians. Even St. Pauls, in Lon- 
don, occupies the site of the temple of the Virgin 
Diana. 

This religion was sustained by the love of people 
and princes, by antiquity, universality, and general 
consent, but in less than four centuries it yielded to 
the apostles of the Gentiles. 

At the close of the second century, Irenseus speaks 
of the prevalence of the gospel among "the Ger- 
mans and Celts, the Egyptians, Lybians, and Orien- 
tals." 

The eloquent Tertullian, a. d. 198, recites : " We 
are but of yesterday, yet we have filled your empire, 
your cities, your islands, your castles, your corporate 
towns, your assemblies, your very camps, your tribes, 
your companies ; your palaces and your temples 
alone are left to you." And again, " The Parthians, 
Medes, Persians, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, 
Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Egypt, and 
parts beyond Cyrene, the Romans, tribes of the 
Getuli, many in the extreme parts of Mauritania and 
Spain, many nations in Gaul and places in Britain 
inaccessible to the Roman arms, have been subdued 
to Christ. The Sarmatians, Dacians, Germans, Scyth- 



56 THE CATHOLIC. 

ians, and many other nations, provinces, and islands 
to us unknown, are subject to Christ's dominion," 
and this was at least a century before the accession 
of the first Christian emperor, and during the reign of 
Severus. After the victory of Constantine, A. D. 306, 
under the luminous cross, with its inscription, " con- 
quer by this," Christianity still advanced, and before 
the middle of the fifth century, about the time of St. 
Augustine, attained its greatest power under Valen- 
tinian and Theodosius. Bishop Hopkins 1 proves 
by various authors, that at this early period, long be- 
fore the Roman prelate had claimed the supremacy, 
or wore the title of universal bishop, and when he 
certainly was not ruler of the world, that the Christian 
world contained two thousand bishoprics. Records 
are now remaining of at least 

566 dioceses in Africa, estimated to contain 55,000,000 souls. 

50 " « Persia, Asia, " " " 2,500,000 " 

48 " in the patriarchate of Jerusalem, Asia, 5,000,000 " 
164 " « " " " Antioch, " 33,000,000 " 

400 " « » " Constantinople, " 80,000,000 " 

200 " " " " " Europe, 40,000,000 " 

300 « " Italy, 
117 " « France, 

38 " " Ireland, }* 25,250,000 

50 " " Britain, Germany, and other 
places, estimated 

Some of the bishoprics were very large and popu- 
lous. That of Carthage contained five hundred 
presbyters. That of Cyrus consisted of eight hun- 
dred parishes and sixty thousand farms. The dio- 
cese of Caesarea, over which St. Basil presided, cov- 

1 In his treatise on the Primitive Church, p. 402. 



THE CATHOLIC. 57 

ered an area of ten thousand square miles, and he 
had under him fifty assistant bishops. The aggre- 
gate of each district gives us more than two hundred 
and forty millions of Christians, more Christians 
than the entire world now contains. But little more 
than a century after this, the bishop of Rome usurped 
the powers of the church, and claimed supremacy. 
The Greek church seceded. In the year a. d. 622, 
the baneful crescent rose in the East. Mahomet, 
with his false faith, invaded a divided empire, and 
swept before him the churches, people, and civiliza- 
tion of Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. The ages 
of ignorance and superstition followed, and when 
the Church of Rome insists to-day that she has been 
since the time of the apostles, universal, catholic, 
and apostolic, may we not ask, What has she done 
with those vast and fertile regions, the garden of the 
world, the seats of arts, commerce, and literature, in 
which the church was first planted ? Where are the 
five hundred and sixty-six dioceses of Africa, the 
six hundred and sixty-two dioceses of Asia, and the 
two hundred bishoprics of Eastern Europe, and the 
two hundred millions of Christians they contained ? 
Has she not severed herself from them by her ambi- 
tion? Did she not leave them to perish? Have 
they not been trodden down by the infidel, and what 
remains of them but a remnant of Greeks, Maro- 
nites, and Nestorians? If the Church of Rome has 
any existence in these regions, or in the Northern 
and Eastern provinces of Norway, Sweden, and 
Russia, it must be in the shape of some feeble mis- 
sionary or wandering friar. I will not pretend to 
prove a negative to the claim that a Roman Catholic 



58 THE CATHOLIC. 

there exists, but must ask you to prove that he does 
exist there, and if he does, that he preaches to any 
purpose. 

And in this connection let me ask, in what part 
of our own State, Vermont, New Hampshire, and 
Connecticut, did the Church of Rome exist for the 
first century after our forefathers landed, for I find 
no records of its existence. 

If your theory is, that a solitary priest, perhaps 
travelling in disguise, is proof that a religion exists 
in a country, and is sufficient to prove it universal, 
then glance at the missions which the Protestants of 
England, Germany, and the United States have 
planted throughout the world. The English nation 
pervades the world. Her morning gun and her ban- 
ner salute the sun as he rises in every portion of the 
globe, and the chant of the Episcopal church, or the 
prayer of the Protestant missionary, ascend from 
nearly every point touched by the commerce, or 
reached by the energy of the Anglo-Saxon. Upon 
your theory, the faith of the Protestant is more dif- 
fused, and more universal than that of the Church 
of Rome. 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER IX. 

Boston, February 28, 1853. 
My deae S. . . : — You urge that the Church of 
Rome is the only apostolic and primitive church. 
In my previous letters I have pointed out to you its 
numerous departures from the divine word, the rules 
of the apostles, and ancient usages. Let me draw 
your attention to a few others. The pope of Rome 
claims to unite spiritual and temporal power, but St. 
Paul in his directions to Timothy, an early bishop, 
expressly charges him to be the soldier of Christ, 
and not to entangle himself with the affairs of this 
life. 1 The apostolic canons, which contain the rules 
by which the church was governed in the second and 
third centuries, expressly provide, " Let not a bishop, 
or a priest, or a deacon, undertake temporal offices, 
but if any should, let him be expelled." How can 
you reconcile with this rule, the triple crown worn 
by the bishop of Rome, when he assumes the 
office of a temporal prince at his coronation ? How 
can you reconcile the various and discordant prac- 
tices of the monks and the monastic life, with 
the teaching of our Saviour or his apostles, or the 
earliest usages of the primitive church? Where 
do you find in Holy Writ directions to found 
monasteries, or directions to one class of monks or 

1 2 Timothy 2 : 3,4. 

(59) 



60 THE CATHOLIC. 

friars to eat fish, and to another to eat herbs on cer- 
tain days, or imperative orders to some to use san- 
dals, to others to go barefoot, to some to wear woollen, 
to others to dress in linen, to one set to put on white 
and another black apparel, or prescribing a broad ton- 
sure to some, and a narrow tonsure to others. I am 
well aware there were enthusiasts and devotees in the 
first three centuries, that even devout and pious men 
sought retirement, and even St. John, in his old age, 
(and he lived nearly a century,) fled from persecution 
to the Isle of Patmos, where he had heavenly vis- 
ions, but I can find no early authority for monas- 
teries and monastic rules. On the contrary, St. 
Augustine expressly condemns the idle monks who 
made their appearance in his day, and lived upon 
others. " We cannot tell (he observes) whether they, 
became monks to serve God, or being weary of a 
life of poverty and want, were desirous to be fed 
and clothed in indolence." Again he remarks, " they 
serve not God, but their own low appetites," and 
calls the alms they obtain, " the gains of a lucrative 
poverty, the reward of a pretended holiness" x And 
Theodoret, A. d. 420, speaks of monasteries as dens 
of thieves, and commends bishop Letois because he 
had " chased the wolves from the fold," when he 
overthrew and burned the Thessalian monasteries. 
And again, Cardinal Pole, reporting to Pope Paul 
III., pope of Rome, a.d. 1534, under a commission 
to view the disorders and deformities of the 
church, remarks, " Another abuse there is to be re- 
formed in the orders of monks and friars, for many 

1 Augustine de opere, Monach. c. 12, 22, 28. 



THE CATHOLIC. 61 

of them are so vile that they are a shame unto the 
seculars, and with their example do much ill ; as for 
conventual orders we think it good they should be 
all abolished" Remember, this is the official testi- 
mony of an eminent Roman Catholic to the pope, of 
the vices and impurity of hosts "of monks and friars. 
The church you consider apostolic^ then overflowed 
with such pretended holiness. 

But let us glance for a moment at auricular con- 
fession. I do not mean to argue that our Saviour 
and his apostles did not direct us to confess our sins, 
but where do you find in the gospels, acts, and let- 
ters of the apostles, or apostolic canons, a rule for 
females to confess in private to the priest, their sins 
in thought, word, or deed ? And permit me to ask, 
whether, down to A. D. 1560, it was not a question in 
the Church of Rome, on what authority rested au- 
ricular confession, the canonists saying it was ap- 
pointed " by the positive law of man," and the 
schoolmen urging it was appointed by the law of 
God. Has not the practice been shamefully abused 
by dissolute priests and friars, and when we find the 
doctors of the Church of Rome disagree as to the 
sanction for such a practice, and gross abuses attend- 
ant, are we not safe in its rejection ? 

Again, with respect to the rite or sacrament of 
baptism. Did our Saviour or his apostles, or their 
successors, the earliest bishops, or the canons of the 
primitive church, for centuries, require the applicant 
for baptism, as a condition precedent, to swear obedi- 
ence to a temporal prince, or to the bishops of Rome ? 
If so, refer me to your authority. According to 

6 



62 THE CATHOLIC. 

Acts viii. the Apostle Philip, after our Lord's ascen- 
sion, went down to Samaria and baptized the Sa- 
maritans, and even Simon the sorcerer, when they 
believed ; and in his memorable interview with " the 
man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under 
Candace, queen of *the Ethiopians, who had charge 
of all her treasure," he preached unto him Jesus. 
And when he asked to be baptized, " Philip said, if 
thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And 
he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is 
the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot 
to stand still, and they went down both into the 
water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized 
him." Where was the pope's formulary, where the 
promise to obey a temporal and spiritual lord, which 
the bearer of the triple crown now imposes on the 
followers of Christ? Is there in this particular a 
close adherence to the primitive apostolic church ? 

And let me ask you, why should not an apostolic 
church adhere to such practices alone as reach the 
age of apostolic authority, and should we not bring 
the lofty pretensions of the Church of Rome to the 
severe test of this primitive canon? Irense us often 
appealed to the " earliest churches." If the Church 
of Rome claims immutability from the very age of 
the apostles, can she sustain herself by modern inno- 
vations? The very circumstance of such a claim 
being preferred, brings the whole matter to the ques- 
tion of a naked historic fact, and by the solution of 
that question, we prove the Church of Rome guilty 
of innovation. 

The Council of Nice wisely enjoined on the 



THE CATHOLIC. 63 

church, " hold still the ancient customs ; " and your 
favorite Tertullian says with great felicity of ex- 
pression, " That only is genuine and true which was 
first delivered, but that -which was subsequently in- 
troduced is extraneous and false." 2 

The same great master, Tertullian, also tells us 
that, "Truth being a stranger, in the earth, easily 
finds enemies among strangers, and all she asks is 
this, that no one condemn her before he knows her" 
And Vincent of Lirens, one of the strongest advo- 
cates for traditions, well remarks, " That in the 
Catholic church herself, likewise, care is to be taken 
that we hold that which has been believed every- 
where, always, and by all." 2 

With these prefatory remarks, cited from stand- 
ard Catholic authorities, I recur to your two posi- 
tions : that the Church of Rome has always pre- 
served her unity, and that there were no dissenters 
from her authority before the time of Luther. 

If the church claims a derivation from the primi- 
tive church, was not that unity broken, by her aban- 
donment of the Eastern churches, with at least two 
thirds of all the bishops, churches, presbyters, and 
Christians, to which I have already referred. Is there 
<my unity between the Greek and Roman churches 
at the present moment ? Is there any unity between 
the Church of Rome and the Maronites, Nestorians, 
Armenians, or Abyssinian churches, which have ex- 
isted for more than ten centuries. I would refer you 

lu Id esse dominicum et verum quod est prius traditum, id 
autem extraneum et falsurn, quod sit posterius immissum." 

2 Tertullian in Apologetico, c. I. (Vincent Lirens Commenta- 
rium, 317.) 



64 THE CATHOLIC. 

also to Gibbon, 1 where he shows the prevalence of the 
Arian doctrines in the churches of the Roman Em- 
pire at the accession of Theodosius, "who claimed 
the merit of subduing the Arian heresy, and was in 
fact the first emperor baptized in the faith of the 
trinity." When he ascended the throne, A. D. 379, 
just after the death of Athanasius, the Arians, en- 
couraged by the Emperor Valens, himself an Arian, 
held all the churches of Constantinople, more than 
one hundred in number. 

More than half the churches of the empire were 
controlled by Arians, when Theodosius proclaimed 
his own faith, and prescribed the religion of his sub- 
jects. " It is our pleasure,'' such is the imperial 
style, "that all the nations which are governed by 
our clemency and moderation, should steadfastly ad- 
here to the religion which was taught by St. Peter to 
the Romans, which faithful tradition has preserved; 
and which is now professed by the pontiff Damasus, 
and by Peter, bishop of Alexandria, a man of apos- 
tolic holiness. According to the discipline of the 
apostles and the doctrine of the gospel, let us believe 
the sole Deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost ; under an equal majesty and a pious trinity." 

After thus treating the pontiff of Rome and 
bishop of Alexandria as equal authorities, he pro- 
ceeds to denounce all dissenters from this doctrine 
as heretics. 

At this time, observes Gibbon, 2 " Constantinople 
was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism, and 

1 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. V. p. 13-23. 

2 lb. p. 17. 



THE CATHOLIC. 65 

in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the 
princes and prelates who reigned in the capital of 
the East, was rejected by the purer schools of Rome 
and Alexandria." 

A contemporary of Theodosius, cited by Gibbon, 
informs us that at the time of his accession, Con- 
stantinople was full of mechanics and slaves, who 
were all of them profound theologians, and preach in 
the shops and the streets. If you desire " a man to 
change a piece of silver, he informs you wherein the 
Son differs from the Father. If you ask the price of 
a loaf, you are told by way of reply, the Son is infe- 
rior to the Father ; and if you inquire if the bath be 
ready, you are told the Son was made out of noth- 
ing," so pervading was the faith of the Arians, and 
so deeply had their views entered into the bosoms, 
and interwoven themselves with the thoughts of the 
people. 

Theodosius made Gregory, of the Athanasian or 
Catholic faith, archbishop of his capital, and Gibbon 
observes, 1 " That the glittering arms which surround- 
ed his person, were necessary to his safety, and that 
he alone was the object of the imprecations of a 
great party, whom as men and citizens it was impos- 
sible for him to despise. He beheld the innumerable 
multitude of either sex and of every age who 
crowded the streets, the windows, and the roofs of 
houses ; he heard the tumultuous voice of rage, grief, 
and astonishment and despair, and Gregory fairly 
confesses, that on the day of his installation, the 
capital of the East wore the appearance of a city 

1 Decline and Fall, Vol. V. p. 24. 
6* 



66 THE CATHOLIC. 

taken by storm, and in the hands of a barbarian con- 
queror." But Theodosius prevailed. The Arian 
archbishop retired to a life of poverty and exile. 

Theodosius announced his intention to expel from 
all the churches of his empire the Arian bishops and 
their clergy. His lieutenant, Sapor, "was armed 
with the ample powers of a general law, a special 
commission, and a military force, and this ecclesias- 
tical revolution was conducted with so much discre- 
tion and vigor, that the religion of the emperor was 
established without tumult or bloodshed in all the 
provinces of the East." Gibbon relates that Theo- 
dosius then proceeded, with the aid of the celebrated 
St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, to abolish paganism, 
which down to this period had been the prevailing 
religion of the nobles, senate, and people of Rome, 
and a large proportion of the Roman Empire, but 
the bishop of Rome appears to have made no figure 
on this great occasion. 

After Theodosius had disposed of the Arians, 
another great sect, the Donatists, arose, and during 
the whole of the fifth century disturbed the unity of 
the primitive church. By reference to Gibbon, 1 you 
will find that this sect was inclined to the principles 
of the Arians ; that " the Donatist bishops at the 
Council of Carthage, amounted to two hundred and 
seventy-nine, and they asserted their whole number 
was not less than four hundred. The Catholics had 
two hundred and eighty-six present, one hundred and 
twenty absent, beside sixty-four vacant bishoprics. 
The Emperor Honorius, after the death of Theodo- 

1 Decline and Fall, Vol. VII. p. 1G. 



THE CATHOLIC. 67 

sius, issued decrees against the Donatists, of which the 
fifty-fourth was the most severe and effectual. A regu- 
lar scale of fines, of from ten to two hundred pounds 
of silver, was established. Some were reconciled to 
the church, but many were provoked to madness, 
and the distracted country was filled with tumult 
and bloodshed. After the death of St. Augustine, 
who was released in the 76th year of his age from 
the impending calamities of his country, the Arian 
king of the Vandals, combining with the Donatists, 
conquered the principal provinces of Africa, cap- 
tured Carthage, established an African kingdom, 
and restored the Arian and Donatist bishops to 
their sees and churches. Gibbon, in his narrative, 
in describing the death of St. Augustine, says he 
left more than two hundred and thirty-two separate 
books and treatises, that "he possessed a strong, 
capacious, argumentative mind; he boldly sounded 
the dark abyss of grace, predestination, freewill, 
and original sin, and the rigid system of Christian- 
ity which he framed or restored, has been entertained 
with public applause and secret reluctance by the 
Latin church. The Church of Rome has canonized 
Augustine and reprobated Calvin, yet as the real 
difference between them is invisible even to a theo- 
logical microscope ; the Molinists are oppressed by 
the authority of the saint, and the Jansenists are dis- 
graced by their resemblance to the heretic." 

From the books of this early Catholic saint, sprung 
the bitter but no less famous controversy between the 
Jesuits and the Jansenists, which has for several cen- 
turies divided the Church of Rome, the former main- 
taining the free agency of man, the latter denying 



68 THE CATHOLIC. 

his ability to work at all in his own salvation. Keen 
arguments, decrees of universities and councils of 
cardinals, edicts of princes, have been mustered on 
either side. The pope and the kings of France at 
length took up the cause of the Jesuits, prevailed, 
and oppressed the obnoxious Jansenism, although it 
is still more or less openly professed in many Roman 
Catholic countries. 

Allow me to ask, in conclusion, what division be- 
tween Protestants on articles of faith is more seri- 
ous, than the differences in the Roman Catholic 
church on the subject of the trinity, the difference as 
to grace and freewill, and the difference between 
the Greek and Latin churches, the Nestorians, Mar- 
onites, and Abyssinians still subsisting ? Can a 
church which has partaken, and still partakes of 
such dissensions, a church which has, since the days 
of the apostles, regardless of the rules and practice 
of our Saviour, his apostles, and the primitive 
church, admitted new observances and worship, 
adopted purgatory, transubstantiation, the suprem- 
acy of the pope, and other innovations as articles of 
faith or practice, claim to be in truth the only church 
which has preserved unity, and had no dissenters 
down to the time of Luther ? 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER X. 

Boston, March 1, 1853. 

My dear S. . . : — Having disposed of the " Unity " 
claimed for the Church of Rome, I now come to 
your position, that the Episcopal church is neither 
ancient, catholic, or apostolic. 

In discussing this question, let us not forget that 
the divisions of Protestants may be ascribed in 
some degree to the errors of Rome. The abuses 
which crept into the church during the dark ages had 
risen to such a height in the days of the Reformers 
as to awaken the indignant feelings of the public, 
and cause a general outbreak. Extremes beget ex- 
tremes. Revolutions tend to violence and disorder ; 
and when the people rose almost en masse to sweep 
away the abuses of Rome, to war against images, 
legends, traditions, and monastic vices, to test by the 
Word of God the standard of faith, it followed of 
necessity that many would lose sight of the good 
amid the mass of evil, and fail to distinguish some of 
the rules and rituals established by the apostles from 
the innovations of the Romish church. Nor is it 
surprising that the Reformers, when defining their 
faith without the aid of councils, divided on some of 
the questions discussed and adjudicated by the early 
councils of the church. Need we wonder that some 
should prefer presbyters to bishops, some rely on 

(69) 



70 THE CATHOLIC. 

grace, and others upon freewill ; that some should 
give the preference to immersion, others to sprink- 
ling ; that some should reject the liturgy, and some 
differ upon the Arian faith, which divided the primi- 
tive church both before and after the day of Athana- 
sius ? 

Is it safe, however, to infer from such distinctions, 
that they were all wrong in rejecting the errors and 
innovations of Rome? Concede some Protestants 
have fallen into error, it by no means follows, as a 
necessary consequence, that the Church of Rome we 
have proved to be neither united, catholic, or apostolic, 
is the only true church. On the contrary, the very re- 
verse should be inferred from so general a dissent 
from her form of worship and articles of faith. 

When we ask which is the true catholic church, 
we must not ask which makes the boldest claims 
and professions, for professions are not the tests of 
truth ; we must not ask which is most widely dif- 
fused or dominant, for the Arians had the ascendency 
during the early life of St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, 
and St. Athanasius, and rode rampant over the 
church ; but we must ask which church can best 
show its apostolic succession, which church, tested 
by Holy Writ, by the canons of the apostles, and the 
authentic record of the church to the close of the first 
century, when St. John, the survivor of the apostles, 
was still alive, approaches most closely to the apos- 
tolic standard, and I will submit to you the claims of 
our Episcopal church to the precedence. 

We derive this church from the English, which traces 
its bishops in direct succession from the apostles, 
and it will be my effort to prove that the Church of 



THE CATHOLIC. 71 

England was planted in Britain in the first century 
by St. Paul, or his immediate converts, and was for 
centuries entirely independent of Rome, governed by 
its own bishops and archbishops, that it has through 
every age struggled to preserve its independence, and 
in a greater or less degree opposed the errors of Rome, 
and now, purged of its errors, claims to be the true 
apostolic and catholic church. But before I trace 
the history and succession of this church, let me briefly 
advert to its articles of faith and form of government. 
Its faith is founded on Holy Writ, the apostolic 
canons, and in part on the decisions of the earliest 
councils, including the great Council of Nice. If it 
has deviated materially from this primitive standard, 
point out the discrepancy. As respects the form of 
government, it is overlooked and guided by bishops, 
who trace their succession from the apostles. During 
feudal times, some of these were lords temporal in 
England. But no American bishop wields any tem- 
poral power, he bears here only the spiritual sword. 
As respects the office of bishop, the apostles at first 
appointed presbyters and deacons to direct the church 
under their guidance. This was in the infancy of 
the church. As the- disciples increased, and the 
apostles pursued their mission in different regions, the 
more distinguished presbyters were selected as " an- 
geli or episcopi," legates or bishops. James, supposed 
to be the brother of our Lord, 1 presided at the first 
council at Jerusalem, and pronounced the decree " 1 
judge," etc., which was confirmed by his associates ; 
and during the lifetime of St. John, in apostolic days, 
numerous bishops were appointed, for he addresses his 

1 Acts 15 : 12, 28. 



72 THE CATHOLIC. 

Revelation from Patmos to the seven angels or bishops 
of the churches of Asia, namely, Ephesus, Smyrna, 
Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodi- 
cea. The English bishops claim a succession from 
St. John, through Polycarp his disciple, bishop of 
Symrna, and the great historian Eusebius, who had 
access to the early church records, has' preserved the 
succession of the bishops of Jerusalem, Rome, Alex- 
andria, and Antioch, from the apostolic period down 
to A. D. 305, fifteen years before the Council of Nice, 
when he wrote his history. In his list, Linus, a friend 
of St. Paul, a married man, a prince of Britain, appears 
as first bishop of Rome, Amianus as first of Alexan- 
dria, James, presumed to be the brother of our Lord, 
as first of Jerusalem, and Evodius as first of Antioch ; 
and by the same authority, Linus, bishop of Rome, 
presided over the church of that city from A. D. 67 to 
A. D. 79, when he was succeeded by Anacletus, and on 
his death, a. D. 91, by Clement. The liturgy of the 
Episcopal church corresponds closely with that early 
used in the church of Ephesus, ascribed by early his- 
tory to St. John, and is traced from Britain to Lyons, 
and thence through Bishop Paulinus, a disciple of 
Polycarp, the pupil of St. John, to Symrna and Eph- 
esus, the seat of the favored apostle of our Lord. 

Let me invite your attention to the historical evi- 
dence that St. Paul first planted the church in Brit- 
ain. From those valuable documents, the Triads, 
preserved in the Welsh monasteries, it appears that 
about A. D. 52, Caradoc, a British prince, his son 
Brennus, and grandson Linus, were carried to Rome, 
and detained seven years in bondage. While in 
Rome they became converts to Christianity. At the 



THE CATHOLIC. 73 

end of seven years Brennus returned to Britain with 
Aristobulus, whose household St. Paul salutes in his 
Epistle to the Romans, 

This account is supported by Gildas, a British his- 
torian, A. D. 560, who affirms in the evidence of an- 
cient records, that Christianity was introduced into 
Britain about the time of the revolt and overthrow of 
Boadicea, A. D. 61. Linus, the son of Brennus, of 
Britain, was probably ordained by St. Paul, first bish- 
op of Rome, 1 and appears to have been his convert 
and particular friend, for he refers to him in his second 
Epistle to Timothy. 2 Clement, another disciple of 
St. Paul, and third bishop of Rome, commended by 
that apostle in his Epistle to the Corinthians, a. d. 87, 
states, that St. Paul, in preaching the Gospel, " went 
to the utmost bounds of the West," which not only 
includes Britain, but is the very expression by which 
Britain was then described. Eusebius, a. d. 305, 
says, " one of the apostles visited the British isles," 
and Theodoret, A. D. 415, mentions the Britons and 
Cimbrians as nations who had received laws from 
the apostles ; and we are not to forget that St. Paul 
himself proposed to make a visit to Spain, a point 
still more remote. 

Were further confirmation wanting, the old writer 
Dorotheus mentions the fact that Aristobulus, the 
friend of St. Paul, was one of the first bishops of the 
British church, made many converts, ordained priests 
and deacons and bishops, and died in Britain. Aris- 
tobulus being a Greek, would of course carry with 
him the Eastern ritual, and this may explain the 
agreement between the Greek and British ritual, 

1 Apos. Cons. Vn» 46. 2 2 Tim. 4: 21. 



74 THE CATHOLIC. 

and the variance from the Roman. We may then 
safely infer, from the evidence of history, that St. 
Paul planted the church in Britain between A. d. 60 
and A. d. 6?, when he was beheaded at Rome, under 
the Emperor Nero. The Triads further prove that 
Lucius, a grandson of Linus, first bishop of Rome, 
was permitted by the Romans to reign over part of 
Britain, and exerted himself to promote Christianity 
in Britain, 1 The venerable Bede, the favorite author 
of King Alfred, records a severe persecution (a. d. 
303) of the Christians in Britain, and the names of 
the first martyrs, Verolamus, Aaron, and Julius, the 
last of Legion, or Cair Leon, in Wales. 

Tertullian, A. D. 190, says : " There are places in 
Britain, inaccessible to the Roman arms, which were 
subdued to Christ." And Origen, A. D. 230, informs us, 
" the power of God our Saviour is ever with them of 
Britain, who are divided from our world." 

The records of the great councils held at Aries in 
Gaul, A. D. 314, are still preserved, and bear the sig- 
natures of three British bishops, Eborius of York, 
Restitutus of London, and Adulfius of Cair Leon in 
Wales, with Sacerdos, a presbyter, and Arminius, a 
deacon of the church. In a. D. 448, a synod of bishops, 
held at Munster in Ireland, questioned the power of 
St. Patrick as archbishop, but conceded what they 
denied as a right, to his merits and success as a mis- 
sionary. 

It is thus apparent that Christianity was estab- 
lished in the isles of Britain long before the seventh 
century, when Austin, the legate of Gregory of 
Rome, made his first visit to Britain, and reclaimed 

1 Sec Monos. Angli. Vol. III. p. 188 ; Hopkins, P. C, 364. 



THE CATHOLIC. 75 

the Saxons, then established in England, for the pope 
of Rome doubtless claimed them when they emi- 
grated from his diocese, while he conceded the Gauls 
and their clergy to the Bishop of Aries as their me- 
tropolitan. 1 

Austin held his celebrated conference with the 
bishops of Britain, a. d. 603. At this interview they 
asserted their entire independence of Rome, " owing 
nothing to her but charity and brotherly love." No 
less than seven British bishops attended this confer- 
ence, and by their mouthpiece Dinoth, whose speech 
is preserved, 2 informed Austin, " they could not ac- 
knowledge him as archbishop, or obey the Roman 
bishop whom he called pope," for " we are under 
the government of the bishop of Cair Leon upon 
Wiske, who, under God, is to oversee us, to cause us 
to walk in the way of life." They were tenacious 
of their ancient faith and ritual, and stood firmly by 

" Keligio patrum multos servata per annos." 

Between the visit of Austin, A. D. 603, and the Nor- 
man conquest, a. D. 1066, various councils of bishops 
were held in England, and repeated efforts made to 
establish the power of the pope, but there was not at 
any one of them a recognition of his authority, al- 
though he was permitted to introduce monks and 
monasteries. Both the British and Saxon churches 
remained independent until the invasion of the duke 
of Normandy, when they were merged in one, en- 
tirely independent of papal authority. Under the 
Norman kings the pope of Rome resumed his efforts 

1 For this see Bede, Ecc. Hist. I. c. 27. 

2 See Smith's Bede, p. 716. 



76 THE CATHOLIC. 

for supremacy in Britain, and sent a legate to that 
country. William II. made Anselm Archbishop of 
Canterbury, and he acknowledged the authority of 
Pope Urban, and for this the whole body of bishops 
at Rockingham renounced their allegiance to Anselm, 
and after this he was not permitted to convene coun- 
cils or fill up vacant dioceses. 1 

Henry I. allowed no appeals to the pope without 
license from the king, and required the bishops to at- 
tend the councils of the nation. He maintained his 
ground against all opposition. Under the degenerate 
Stephen, papal encroachments were made, but his 
successor, Henry II., called a council at Clarendon, 
A. D. 1164, composed of archbishops, bishops, ab- 
bots, lords, and barons, which enacted sixteen canons 
that gave a most effectual check to the influence of 
the pope for several centuries. These canons pro- 
vided among other things that the clergy should be 
amenable to the secular power ; should not leave the 
realm without the king's consent, and have no right 
to appeal to the pope ; that the election of bishops 
should be invalid until confirmed by the king, and 
that no freeholder should be laid under interdict 
without the consent of the king or his chief justice. 
These canons were condemned and revoked by Pope 
Alexander, but notwithstanding this, were confirmed 
by kings, lords, and clergy, at a council held at North- 
ampton, A. d. 1176, in the presence of the pope's 
legate, were long enforced, and for centuries formed 
the bulwark of the Church of England. During the 
reign of Richard I., who died A. D. 1199, these canons 

1 Sec Lingard, the Catholic Historian, Hist. Eng. Vol. II. p. 23. 



THE CATHOLIC. 77 

were strictly observed, but under the pusillanimous 
John, renewed efforts were made by the pope to sub- 
ject England to his sway, and that imbecile monarch 
swore fealty to him, and allowed Peter pence to be 
collected. His successor, Henry III., acquiesced in 
silence, but the opposition of the clergy was aroused, 
they complained to the king, and appealed from the 
pope to a general council for redress. 1 

The three Edwards, who reigned from the death 
of Henry III, a. d. 1272 to 1377, held the reins with 
a firmer hand than the two weak kings who preceded 
them, and during their reigns the pretensions of the 
pope were successfully resisted. By a series of stat- 
utes the king was empowered to reverse sentences of 
excommunication, the donation of John to the pope 
declared invalid, the remittance of funds to Rome 
strictly prohibited, parties appealing to Rome declared 
traitors and outlaws, taxes were levied on the clergy, 
and when Boniface VIII., by his bull, A. D. 1296, for- 
bid the clergy to pay such taxes, and excommunicat- 
ed those who laid them, the king, by a decree of 
outlawry, sanctioned by the lay peers, enforced sub- 
mission. 2 

From the death of Edward III., a. d. 1377, until 
A. D. 1422, under Henry IV. and V., other restrictive 
statutes were passed, forbidding the sale of indul- 
gences, and prohibiting aliens from holding benefices 
in England, except priors, who were required to find 
sureties for their compliance with the laws of the 
realm, for which see the statutes of England. 

1 See Lingard, HI., pp. 32-89. 

2 See Lingard, Stowe, and Hopkins, P. C. p. 378. 

7* 



"78 THE CATHOLIC. 

From A. D. 1422, these laws continued unrepealed 
until the accession of Henry VIIL, and the reforma- 
tion under him, a century later; but during the 
War of the Roses, the country was torn by civil 
dissensions, laws ceased to be enforced and re- 
spected, monarchs had little time to protect the 
church, old abuses were revived, and the influence of 
the pope was gradually increased, and probably 
reached its height under Cardinal Wolsey, himself 
an aspirant for the papal chair. But you have read 
of the downfall of Wolsey, and his parting words 
to Cromwell, immortalized by the bard of Avon, 
who must have witnessed his fall. He charges 
Cromwell to " fling away ambition, by that sin fell 
the angels. Be just and fear not. Let all the ends 
thou aimest at be thy country's, thy God's, and 
truth's." And Wolsey, that once trod the ways of 
glory, and sounded all the depths and shoals of 
honor, ends his career with — 

" Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye ; 
Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness." 

The struggles of ambition ended with the fall of 
Wolsey. Henry suppressed the monasteries, re- 
formed the errors of the church, for which reform 
WicklifFe had paved the way, and sustained alike by 
the bishops and clergy, nobles, and people enforced 
the laws of the preceding century, and bid defiance 
to the thunders of the Vatican, whose bolts fell pow- 
erless at the feet of his daughter Elizabeth. 

Thus have I shown you how the Church of Eng- 
land, through successive centuries, while Europe 
generally submitted to Rome, was tenacious of its 



THE CATHOLIC. 79 

rights, on its guard against invasion, asserted and 
maintained its privileges, and finally secured on a 
firm basis the purity which it now maintains. Should 
you urge that its. members do not exceed fifteen mill- 
ions in all quarters of the globe, that they are less 
than one sixth of the numbers of the Roman church, 
let me reply, that numbers are not the sole test of 
truth, that God invited but seven beside Noah to es- 
cape the deluge, that Lot fled almost alone from the 
corrupt cities of the plain ; and let us observe also the 
bow of promise in the future. * 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 

1 For proof that St. Paul planted the Church in Britain before 
St. Peter left Asia, see Appendix, p. 274. 



LETTER XI. 

Boston, March 4, 1853. 

My dear S. . . : — I am not surprised that you 
seek to discover the true church, nor do I wonder 
that you are at the outset, strongly impressed by the 
confidence with which the Church of Rome still 
claims to be the only one which has preserved her 
unity, her catholic and apostolic character. We 
have already examined the frail foundations which 
sustain those claims, and it is easy to refute all her 
arguments, for they have been refuted ; but she is im- 
posing, even in her decay. She reminds me of one 
of her own venerable structures, whose base has 
been undermined by the stream, whose stone has 
crumbled, whose walls are tottering, whose windows 
are darkened by ivy, whose roof-tree is broken, so 
that the birds of night find refuge in her rafters, 
whose nave and transepts are usurped for the pur* 
poses of trade, or are filled with rubbish, while but a 
small part of her interior, hung with tattered tapes- 
try, remains for the worship of God. Her very ruins 
are impressive, and imagination yields to her much 
that reason denies. Let us leave her picture, and 
recur together to the humble fisherman, on whom 
she rests her pretensions, and examine more closely 
his claims to supremacy. 

The Roman bishop urges that Peter was superior 

(80) 



THE CATHOLIC. 81 

to the other apostles; that St. Matthew calls him 
first; that the evangelists give him the first place; 
that he was first to confess his faith, the first to see 
our Saviour after his resurrection, the first to preach 
on this point to the people, the first to convert the 
Jews, and the first to receive the heathen. 

A part of this may be questioned, upon the testi- 
mony of the evangelists; but for the purposes of 
discussion, concede it to be true, is it not also true 
that when the mother of James and John desired 
the highest place for her sons, and the other apostles 
were moved with indignation, " Jesus called them to 
him and said, you know that the princes of the 
Gentiles lord it over them, and they that are the 
greater exercise power upon them. It shall not be 
so among you ; but whosoever will be the greater 
among you let him be your minister, and he who 
would be first among you shall be your servant." 1 
Again, our Saviour warning his disciples against the 
love of rank and power, says, " Be ye not called 
Rabbi, for one is your master, and all ye are breth- 
ren." 2 We read in Luke, also, " He that is least 
among you shall be the greatest." And again, when 
"there was a strife among them which of them 
should be accounted the greatest," our Lord, after say- 
ing, " let the leader be as him that serveth," adds, 3 " I 
appoint to you as my Father has appointed to me, a 
kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in 
my kingdom, and may sit upon thrones judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel." Now all these lessons of 
humility and equality, were given by our Saviour after 

1 Matt. 20 : 25. 2 Ibid. 25 : 8. 8 Luke 9 : 48. 22 : 29. 



82 THE CATHOLIC. 

the gift of the keys to St. Peter, and after the prom- 
ise that the church should be built on the rock, to 
which you refer, when pressing his claim to suprem- 
acy. And if Peter was constituted prince of the 
apostles, and invested with "superior jurisdiction," 
and " a special dignity," by the figurative words of 
our Lord, is it consistent therewith that he should 
afterwards have inculcated such lessons of humility 
and equality ? Would he not have told them, bow 
with deference to Peter, for after I leave you, he is 
to be your sovereign pope and judge ? 

And how can you reconcile this office of sovereign, 
pope, and judge, confided to St. Peter, with his meek 
deportment at the council of apostles and ancients, 
held at Jerusalem, to hear the report of Paul and 
Barnabas, when James, classed by Eusebius as the 
first bishop of Jerusalem, pronounces the authorita- 
tive decree, " Wherefore I judge that they who from 
the Gentiles are converted to God, are not to be 
disquieted," and the apostles and ancients, with the 
whole church, inclusive of Peter, acquiesce and ratify 
the decree ? 1 

Again, if the promise of the keys, and of power 
to bind and to loose, was given exclusively to St. 
Peter, how do you reconcile the fact, recorded in St. 
John's gospel, 20 : 22, that our Lord after his ascen- 
sion came to the room where all his disciples were 
assembled, and addressing himself to all alike, said, 
" Peace be unto you ; as the Father hath sent me, I 
also send you ; whose sins you shall forgive, they are 
forgiven them, and whose you shall retain, they are 

1 See Acts 15 : 19. Douay Ed. 



THE CATHOLIC. 83 

retained." Does not this gift include St. Peter and 
his associates, without distinction or degree? Do 
they not hold under one and the same commission ? 
If St. Peter was usually named first, is not the 
solution easy ? He was the first called, and was 
probably the oldest and most energetic of the disci- 
ples. This would account for his prominence on 
many occasions, but not for the fact to which you 
also advert, as a proof of his supremacy, that our 
Lord thrice asked him after his resurrection, " Lovest 
thou me ? " and thrice repeated the charge to him to 
feed his sheep and lambs. Does not this repetition 
make against him ? We read, 1 that when our Lord 
said to him the third time, " Simon, son of Jonas, 
lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved." And why did 
he grieve ? Did not these repeated inquiries imply 
doubt and distrust ? Had he not promised, " Lord, 
I will lay down my life for thy sake ? " Had he not 
said, " Though all men shall be offended because of 
thee, yet will I not be offended ? " Had he not as- 
sured our Saviour, " I am ready to go with thee even 
into prison and to death," and confidently declared, 
" If I should die with thee I will not deny thee ? " 
Melancholy exemplar of human frailty ! Did he not 
that selfsame night thrice deny his Lord, draw his 
sword upon an innocent witness, and after deserting 
and denying his master, begin to curse and to swear, 
and to confirm his denial by an oath ? After ail 
this, might not our Saviour single him out from his 
fellows, and repeat in a tone of reproof as often as 
he had denied him, "lovest thou me? then feed my 

1 John 21 : 16. 



84 THE CATHOLIC. 

iambs and sheep," without thereby giving him suprem- 
acy? And when enthusiasts cite the visit of our 
Saviour, first made to Peter's ship, and the miracu- 
lous draught of fishes, as proofs of superiority, are 
you not reminded how his heart failed him when he 
tried to walk upon the waters, and our Lord ad- 
dressed him, " O thou of little faith, wherefore didst 
thou doubt ? " 1 How is it, again, that you find no 
proofs of Peter's supremacy in the apostolical canons 
still extant, which define the positions of bishop, pres- 
byter, and deacon, but do not advert to the supremacy 
of Peter? On the contrary, the thirty-third canon 
prescribes a metropolitan for each nation, whom his 
associates should "esteem as their head, and that 
they should do nothing of difficulty or great moment, 
without his opinion. But neither should this pri- 
mate do any thing without the opinion of all, for 
thus shall concord continue." The Council of Nice 
and the Council of Ephesus followed these canons, 
and decreed that every bishop should acknowledge 
his metropolitan ; but in neither canons or councils is 
there any allusion to a sovereign prince, or tiara 
wearing prelate. 

If St. Peter was the rock on which alone the church 
was founded, and he alone held the keys of heaven ; 
if he alone could loose and unloose, allow me to ask, 
how could St. Paul perform his mission to the 
heathen for three years, without once conferring with 
St. Peter, or receiving from him some portion of his 
gifts ? And yet the mission of St. Paul was eminently 
successful. But how did the ancient fathers, still 

1 Matthew 14: 31. 



THE CATHOLIC. 85 

honored by Rome, construe these passages? Did 
they give the exposition now claimed by the Roman 
see? The golden-mouthed St. Chrysostom, trans- 
lated for his eloquence and learning from the see of 
Antioch to that of Constantinople, reads it thus : 
" Christ founded and fortified his church upon his 
(i. e. Peter's) confession, so that no danger, nor even 
death itself, could overcome it." And commenting 
on the very words of our Saviour, " And I say unto 
thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build 
my church," St. Chrysostom says, " That is upon the 
faith of his confession" Is not this express and 
definite ? 

The same revered writer says of St. Paul, " There 
is no one who loved Christ more vehemently than 
St. Paul, and there was none more acceptable to 
God than he was, yet after receiving so many privi- 
leges from God, he fears and trembles on account of 
his subjects, on account of this principality, that is, 
the episcopal office." 1 

What says the celebrated St. Ambrose, first a 
prince, then the bishop of Milan, whose reputation 
and influence entirely overshadowed that of his col- 
league, Damasus of Rome ? 

Addressing himself to Christians in general, he 
says, " Believe, therefore, as Peter believed, that you 
also may be blessed, that you also may hear. Flesh 
and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my 
Pather who is in heaven, for whoever overcomes the 
flesh, is a foundation of the church. If he cannot 
equal Peter, he can imitate him." And again, " The 

1 See Chrysostom de Sacerd. Op. Om. Ps. 430, 591, 866. 

8 



8b THE CATHOLIC. 

rock is Christ. Strive, therefore, that thou also mayst 
be a rock, and look for that rock, not without thee 
but within. The rock is thine action, the rock is thy 
mind. Upon that rock thy /&#/* is built, that it may 
be struck down by no spiritual wickedness. The 
rock is thy faith; faith is the foundation of the 
church." 1 

What says St. Hilarius, another ancient writer 
revered by the Catholics. " The apostles," not Peter 
only, " obtained the keys of heaven." And again, he 
calls " St. Paul, the master of the nations, the elect 
master of the church." Do not these expressions 
negative the title of St. Peter to the supremacy? 2 

Eusebius, the early historian of the church, also 
calls St. Paul " the holy apostle and truly the first of 
all," and comes to the conclusion that Paul in ful- 
filment of prophecy, "ruled first over the churches, 
and after Paul the other apostles." 3 

The ancient liturgy, which bears the name of Basil, 
makes no reference to the pope of Rome, but in the 

1 " Si petra fueris in ecclesia eris, quia Ecclesia supra petram 
est. Si in Ecclesia fueris, portae inferi non praevalebunt tibi." 
" Quae autem portae mortis, hoc est portae inferi nisi singula 
quaeque pcccata ? " " Si peccatum mortale commiseris portas 
mortis intrasti, sed potens est Deus qui exaltet te de portis 
mortis." Again he says, " Tibi inquit dabo Claves regni coelorum 
ut et solves et Hges. Hoc Novitianus non audivit sed Ecclesia Dei 
audivit quod Petro dicitur Apostolis dicitur." Again he says, 
" Nee Paulus inferior Petro." And again, " Fides ergo est ecclc- 
sise fundamentum non enim de came Petri sed de fide dictum est 
quia portae mortis ei non praevalebunt sed confessio vicit Inferum." 
S. Ambros. Op. Tom. 2, 711 ; Tom. 1, 98, 99 ; Tom. 2, 158. 

2 Hil. de Trin. L. VI. p. 125, 706. 

8 Eusebius, Com. in Psalm 8, 67, 68 ; Evangel. L. I. c. 3. 



THE CATHOLIC. 87 

prayer for the bishop of Alexandria, styles him 
"most holy and blessed pontiff, father, pope, and 
patriarch," and calls his office, holy pontificate. 1 

But that venerable saint, Augustine, " the clearest 
of witnesses," defines with precision the rock, and 
the keys, and the words, Feed my sheep, on which the 
Church of Rome places so much reliance, and it is, I 
confess, a little remarkable, that this canonized au- 
thor and bishop, bears such strong testimony against 
her. In his comments on St. John, he tells us, " The 
Lord says, upon this rock I will build my church, be- 
cause Peter 2 had said, Thou art Christ, the son of the 
living God. Upon this rock, therefore, which thou 
hast confessed, will I build my church. For the rock 
was Christ, upon which foundation Peter himself 
was built. For another foundation can no man lay 
beside that which has been laid, Christ Jesus. The 
church, therefore, which is built on Christ, received 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven in Peter, that is, 
the power of binding and loosing sins." 

Again, " On behalf of all the saints, therefore, who 
belong inseparably to the body of Christ, in order to 
the proper direction of this most stormy life, Peter, 
the first of the apostles, received the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven for the binding and loosing of 
sins. And on behalf of all the same saints, in order 
to the obtaining that most serene bosom of the hid- 
den life, John the evangelist reclined on the breast 
of Christ. As, therefore, it is not Peter alone, but 
the whole church which binds and looses sins, neither 
is it John alone who drinks from the fountain of the 

1 Basil, Op. Om. Oratio pro Pap. Tom. II. 675. 

2 Petra signifies a rock. 



88 THE CATHOLIC. 

Lords heart the sublime truths which he puts forth 
in his preaching, that in the beginning was the word, 
God with God, and the rest concerning the divinity 
of Christ, and the trinity and unity of the divine 
nature, truths to be contemplated face to face in his 
kingdom, but now until the Lord come, to be beheld 
in a glass and in mystery, but the Lord himself 
diffuses this gospel, to be drank by all his saints, 
each according to his capacity, throughout the whole 
world." 

In his discourse upon the anniversary of St. Peter 
and St. Paul, we read as follows : " Feed my sheep. 
I commit my sheep to thee. What sheep ? Those 
I have bought with my blood. I have died for them. 
Dost thou love me, die then for them. And truly 
as that servant who was the man of men, should 
give money for the sheep that were lost, Peter gave 
his blood for the sheep that were saved. But come, 
brethren, he continues, I wish to say something for 
the present time. That which was committed to Peter, 
that which he was commanded to do, not Peter only, 
but likewise all the apostles heard, held, and kept, and 
chiefly that companion of his martyrdom, and of his 
natal day, the Apostle Paul. They heard these things, 
and transmitted them to us, that we might hear 
them. We feed, therefore, and are fed with you. 
May God give us strength in such wise to love you, 
that we also may be enabled to die for you, either in 
reality or affection." 

With such concurrence in the exposition of the 
language of our Saviour as to the rock, the keys, 
and the trust committed therewith to his apostles, 
made in the early days of the primitive Catholic 



THE CATHOLIC. 89 

church, by her purest saints and ablest commenta- 
tors, can we be at a loss for their true meaning ? 
Do not they concur that all shared in the trust, and 
that no supremacy was given to St. Peter ? 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 

8* 



LETTER XII. 

Boston, March 6, 1853. 

My dear S. . . : — I resume the topic of the su- 
premacy of the pope, discussed in my last letter, in 
which I cited the golden-mouthed Chrysostom, and 
the blessed Ambrose and Augustine, canonized 
saints of Rome, to prove that her popes have no 
supremacy. 

It is easy to cite from the saints and early popes 
of Rome, other passages to disprove their claims. 
You will find in Barrow's 1 unanswerable treatise, an 
array of such authorities, and I might well argue 
from them the supremacy of St. Paul, St. James, and 
St. John over their more illiterate associate. St. 
Chrysostom 2 tells us the " Apostolic power was the 
greatest and highest in the church. There was none 
before an apostle, none superior, none equal." He 
demonstrates this superiority by St. Paul himself, 
who, in his enumeration of the chief officers placed 
by God in the church, assigned the highest rank to 
apostles. " Our Lord," 3 says St. Paul, " gave some 
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pas- 

1 See works of Barrow, Vol. VII. p. 156, from which I make 
several extracts. 

8 Chrysostom, Tom. VIII. p. 114. 
8 Ephesians 4: 11. 
(90) 



.THE CATHOLIC. 91 

tors and teachers." Again, St. Paul says, 1 " God 
has set in his church first, apostles ; secondly, proph- 
ets ; thirdly, teachers." Why does he not name as 
first a pope, a vicar of Christ, a head of the Catholic 
church ? Could he be so ignorant, so negligent, or 
envious, as to pass by, without any distinction, the 
supreme officer, if such a one there was? Let us 
assume that one should undertake to name the offi- 
cers in any State or Republic, " would he not," says 
Barrow, " do strangely if he should omit the king, 
the duke, the consul ? " And might not St. Chrysos- 
tom safely infer, as he has done from the omission 
of any higher rank, " that there was nothing in the 
Christian state superior to the apostolic office ? " 
And what does St. Chrysostom say of the Apostle 
Paul ? He styles him, 2 " the tongue, the teacher, the 
apostle of the world;" he was the light of the 
churches ; 2 " the foundation of faith, the pillar and 
ground of truth." 2 " He had the patronage of the 
world committed into his hands," 2 " None was 
greater than he, none equal to him." 2 

Pope Gregory I. says of St Paul, that he was 
made head of the nations, because he obtained the 
principate of the whole church. 2 

How can these descriptions be reconciled with the 
supremacy of St. Peter ? 

But St. Chrysostom distinguishes another apos- 
tle, also, for he says that St. John " was a pillar of 
the churches through the world, and one that had the 
keys of heaven." 2 How can we reconcile this with the 

1 1 Corinthians 12 : 28. 

2 See Barrow, 7, p. 156, 157, for passages in original Greek 
from St. Chrysostom, and reference to book and page. 



92 THE CATHOLIC. 

peculiar claim of St. Peter to the keys of heaven ? 
And what account does St. Chrysostom give of 
the first bishop ordained after the death of our 
Saviour ? He says, " Tradition tells us that our 
Lord appeared to James, and ordained him the first 
bishop of Jerusalem." "James," says the historian 
Epiphanius, " first received the episcopal chair, and 
to him our Lord intrusted his own throne upon 
earth." 1 

Hence, in the apostolic constitutions, in the prayer 
presented for the church, and for all the governors of 
it, the bishops of the principal churches are specified 
by name, and St. James is put in the first place, 
before the bishops of Rome and Antioch. " Let us 
pray for the whole episcopacy under heaven of those 
who rightly dispense the word of thy truth, and let 
us pray for our bishop James, with all his parishes ; 
let us pray for our bishop, Clement, with all his 
parishes ; let us pray for Evodius, and all his 
parishes." 2 Thus may we account for the terms 
bishop of bishops, and bishop of the apostles, under 
which some of these ancient writers describe St. 
James. 

Where, then, was the supremacy of St. Peter ? 

We should remember also that St. John the apostle 
survived St. Peter, and lived until the time of Tra- 
jan, at least thirty years after the death of St. Paul. 
He enjoyed the reverence of all the churches, and it 
may well be asked, Did he, for more than thirty 
years, resign his supremacy in the church to the 
early bishops of Rome, the humble disciples of St. 

1 Epiph. User. 78. 8 Const. Ap. VIII. 10. 



THE CATHOLIC. 93 

Paul and St. Peter, and acknowledge the supremacy 
or even primacy of a bishop over an apostle ? 

Let us assume for the moment that the primacy of 
St. Peter over the primitive church and its bishops 
and apostles is established by other Catholic evidence, 
by what rule of law or title does that personal privi- 
lege descend to his successors in the see at Rome ? 

I cannot find a particle of evidence to prove its 
transmission or descent to such successors. By the 
canon law, " a personal privilege follows the person, 
and is extinguished with the person," * and such was 
the privilege or primacy, if any, of St. Peter. All 
the pretence of primacy granted to St. Peter is based, 
says Barrow, 2 upon " words addressed to his person, 
characterized by his personal adjuncts, as name and 
parentage, which were accomplished in his personal 
actings, and which it is unreasonable to extend fur- 
ther." 

" These things being in a conspicuous manner ac- 
complished in St. Peter's person, the sense of these 
words is exhausted, and whatever more is inferred 
must be by precarious assumption." 

You, however, ascribe to the popes the primacy, 
and adduce as an argument for their supremacy, the 
fact that St. Ignatius addresses his epistles to the 
church which presides in the country of the Romans. 
Concede the fact. Does this prove supremacy ? Was 
not the Church of Rome, metropolitan, and did not 
the Church of Ephesus preside in the country of the 
Ephesians, the Church of Alexandria in Egypt, and 

1 Eesf. Juris. 7 in Sexto. 2 Barrow 7, 160. 



94 THE CATHOLIC. 

the Church of Jerusalem in Judea ? Neither of these 
facts would prove the pope of Rome a sovereign. 

You urge that, "dissensions occurring in the Church 
of Corinth, the case was referred to the Church of 
Rome, in the time of Irenseus." Such a reference would 
prove no supremacy ; but by investigating the case I 
find the Church of Corinth deposed its bishop without 
due cause, and Clement, a friend and probably a con- 
vert of St. Paul, who was the third bishop of Rome, 
A. D. 91 to A. D. 100, wrote in the name of " the church 
which worships at Rome," a friendly letter, expostu- 
lating with the Church of Corinth. This letter is still 
extant. It is couched in the most cautious phrase, 
and concludes with expressing the opinion, that " it is 
sinful and unjust to depose a bishop duly appointed, 
a bishop who has for many years humbly, quietly, lib- 
erally, and with good repute, fulfilled the ministry." 
" For it will not be accounted a light sin if those 
who offer gifts without strife and with holiness, 
should be removed from their episcopate." The letter 
asserts no claim to power or jurisdiction, but addresses 
itself to the reason and conscience of the Corin- 
thians, and concludes with a beautiful petition for 
Divine assistance. 

What a contrast is the bishop or pope here pic- 
tured by Clement, a disciple of St. Paul, and one of 
the first popes of Rome, to the popes who succeeded 
him, and gradually usurped the power of sovereigns 
and the honors of the Deity ! He pictures a bishop 
as distinguished among men for his humility, benevo- 
lence, meek and gentle spirit, his aversion to strife, 
and his purity of life, as selected for these virtues 



THE CATHOLIC. 95 

by the apostles or other approved ministers of 
Christ. How few of his successors can aspire to such 
a character ! 

Then you cite Irenseus as urging that the Church 
of Rome is the greatest, most ancient, and univer- 
sally known, as having been founded by St Peter 
and St. Paul, to which every church is bound to con- 
form, by reason of its superior authority. Although 
the Church of Rome is not so ancient as the Churches 
of Jerusalem, Sardis, Ephesus, and Antioch, Irenseus 
was right in saying that it was universally known, 
and superior in renown. He is good authority, for 
he was educated and probably ordained at Smyrna, 
by Polycarp, the disciple of St. John; but you 
do not quote him correctly. He is endeavoring to 
refute the strange traditions of the Gnostics, by the 
doctrines taught in the churches which can trace 
their succession to the apostles, and in the course of 
his letter, to sustain his argument, he cites the church 
of Smyrna and other churches in Asia. He cites 
Rome as a standard authority, because her bishop is 
twelfth in descent from the apostles, and traces his 
succession through several bishops, namely, Linus 
and Clement who knew the apostles, up to those 
very apostles, and not to St. Peter alone. For he 
expressly says : " The blessed apostles, therefore, 
founding and establishing this church, delivered to 
Linus the episcopal right of governing it," of which 
Linus, 1 Paul makes mention in his Epistle to Timothy. 
He then concludes : "Ad hanc enim Ecclesiam prop- 
ter potiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem con- 
venire Ecclesiam, hoc est eos qui sunt undique 



96 THE CATHOLIC. 

fideles in qua semper ab his qui sunt undique con- 
servata est ea quae est ab Apostolis traditio." Con- 
venire, the word in question, cannot, in this connec- 
tion, mean to conform or agree, for convenire, when 
it refers to place, is followed by an accusative, and 
when it means agree, it takes the dative. I submit 
to you, as a Latin scholar, that the true translation is 
as follows : " For to this church, as being more me- 
tropolitan in its character, it must of necessity be 
that every church should resort, that is, those who 
are faithful, from all places round about it. For in this 
church the apostolic tradition has always been pre- 
served by those about it." This conveys a very 
different idea, and no doubt the true view of Irenaeus, 
as you will see by his other writings, and surely the 
Church of Rome cannot maintain its supremacy upon 
the basis of bad Latin. 

Irenaeus writes another letter from Lyons to Vic- 
tor, thirteenth bishop of Rome, expostulating with 
him for not keeping Easter on the same day with the 
eastern churches, and for threatening not to commune 
with them. This letter is more energetic than the let- 
ter of Clement to Corinth, and in it he refers to Poly- 
carp, who was taught by the apostles, and appointed 
by them bishop of Smyrna, where he lived to a great 
age and made a glorious martyrdom, which Irenaeus 
witnessed in his youth. He then describes a visit 
of Polycarp to Rome, in the time of Anicetns, the 
tenth bishop, who held the see from A. d. 141 to A. d. 
155. He proceeds as follows : " When the most 
blessed Polycarp came to Rome in the time of Ani- 
cetus, and there was a little controversy between them 



THE CATHOLIC; 97 

about other things, they embraced each other pres- 
ently with the kiss of peace, not greatly contending 
about this question (i. e. the day of keeping Easter), 
for neither could Anicetus ever persuade Polycarp to 
cease this thing, because he had lived familiarly with 
John, the disciple of our Lord, and with the other 
apostles, and observed their custom continually. Nor, 
on the other hand, could Polycarp persuade Anicetus 
to observe it, since Anicetus said that he retained the 
custom of those elders that were before him. When 
matters were thus situate they communed together, 
and Anicetus yielded to Polycarp, as a token of re- 
spect, the office of consecrating the offering in the 
church, and at length they departed from each other 
in peace, as well those who observed this custom as 
those who observed it not, keeping the peace of the 
whole church." 1 Does not this confirm the transla- 
tion of the cited passage ? If it was necessary from 
the supremacy of the Roman bishop for all other 
bishops to conform, how is it that Polycarp, declining 
to conform, instead of a censure or an interdict, 
receives a kiss of peace, and is allowed to consecrate 
the offering ? Why did not the pope of Rome then 
cite St. Peter instead of the elders ? and where then 
slept the thunder of the Vatican? One could argue 
from the letter of Irenaeus to Victor that the bishop 
of Lyons was superior to the bishop of Rome, quite 
as strongly as he could argue from the letter of Clem* 
ent the superiority of that bishop over the bishop of 
Corinth. 

But you cite one more authority, the most blessed 

1 See Iren. Con. L. III. c. 1 ; Eusebius, L. V. c. 24. 
9 



98 THE CATHOLIC. 

Jerome. What if even St. Jerome, the secretary of 
the ambitious Damasus, should prove adverse to the 
pretensions of the Roman pontiff? 

The passage in question is an extract from the let- 
ter of St. Jerome to Pope Damasus, about A. d. 375. 
St. Jerome had been a presbyter at Rome under Da- 
masus, and his private secretary ; he had written the 
Latin Vulgate ; but weary of the pomp, magnificence, 
and vices of the imperial city, had retired to the dis- 
trict of Syria, and become a recluse at Bethlehem, 
where he was disturbed by the Arians, then in the 
ascendant. Desirous to return to Rome, he addresses 
Damasus as follows : — 

" Since the East, dashed together by the old 
madness of the people, tears piecemeal the seam- 
less tunic and coat of the Lord, and the foxes de- 
stroy the vine of Christ, as among reservoirs worn 
out, which hold no water, and it is difficult to un- 
derstand where the fountain sealed, the garden in- 
closed, may be found, therefore I have thought it 
best for me to consult the chair of St. Peter and 
the faith praised by the apostles' mouth ; asking 
at this time food for my soul from the same quar- 
ter where formerly I received the garments of 
Christ. For the vast extent of water and of land 
which lies between us, cannot keep me from seek- 
ing the pearl of great price. ' Wheresoever the 
body is, there are the eagles gathered together.' 
The prodigal son, having wasted his patrimony, the 
heritage of the fathers is kept safely amongst you 
alone. There the ground of the Lord, with its pro- 
lific soil, declares its purity by the return of an hun- 
dred-fold ; here the grain, drowned in the furrows, 



THE CATHOLIC. 99 

degenerates into tares and straw. Now the Sun of 
Righteousness rises in the West ; but in the East, 
that Lucifer who had fallen has placed his throne 
above the stars. You are the light of the world, you 
are the salt of the earth, you are vessels of gold and 
silver ; here the vessels of earth and wood are shut 
up for the rod of iron and eternal fire. Notwithstand- 
ing, therefore, your greatness deters, yet your kind- 
ness invites me. With earnestness I ask a victim of 
salvation from the priest, the defence which the 
sheep requires from the shepherd. Let envy depart ; 
let the ambition of the Roman chief be banished ; I 
speak with the successor of the fisherman and a dis- 
ciple of the cross. T, who follow no primate except 
Christ, am united in communion to your blessedness, 
that is, to the chair of Peter : on that rock I know 
that the church is built. Whoever eats the lamb out 
of that house is profane. If any one was not in the 
ark of Noah, he must perish in the flood. And be- 
cause, for my sins, I have dwelt in this wilderness 
which lies on the boundary between Barbary and 
Syria, and could not always seek the holy coun- 
sels of the Lord from your holiness, through so 
great an intervening distance, therefore I follow hither 
your colleagues, the confessors of Egypt, and among 
the largest vessels, I lie hid in a little boat. I know 
nothing of Vitalis, of Melitius, of Paulinus. Who- 
ever does not gather with thee, scatters : that is, 
whoever is not of Christ, is of Antichrist. For now — 
O shame — after the Nicene faith, after the Alexan- 
drine decree, the West also concurring, the new 
phrase of three hypostases is exacted of me, a Roman, 
by the Campenses, and the chief of the Arians. 



100 THE CATHOLIC. 

What apostles, I pray, have disclosed these words ? 
What new Paul, the master of the nations, has 
taught this doctrine ? " 

This would seem to be a confidential letter from a 
recluse to his former bishop and protector, bitterly con- 
demning the heresies and oppression of the Arians, and 
expressing his preference for the faith still kept at 
Rome. He doubtless courted an invitation to return 
—but is such a letter a sufficient basis for the su- 
premacy of Rome ? I have already cited a passage 
from his works, in which he declares all bishops are 
equal, and here he speaks of the Egyptian confess- 
ors or bishops as colleagues of Damasus, and col- 
league does not imply supremacy. 

Does he mean to say that the church is founded on 
Rome, or the chair of St. Peter ? The learned Eras- 
mus thinks otherwise, for he says, in his comments, 
" Not upon Rome, for Rome might degenerate, but 
upon that faith which Peter professed, and which to 
that time the Church of Rome had preserved." 

St. Jerome, in his Epistle to Titus, says : " It be- 
longs to the apostolic dignity to lay the foundation 
of the church, which no one should lay except the 
architect ; but there is no other foundation except 
Jesus Christ ; where that foundation is laid, inferior 
workmen may carry on the buildings." 

Upon the words, " I will give to thee the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven," he says : " Bishops and 
presbyters, not understanding this passage, assume to 
themselves something of the superciliousness of the 
Pharisees, thinking they can condemn the innocent 
and absolve the guilty, when before God it is not the 
sentence of the priest, but the life of the accused that 



THE CATHOLIC. 101 

is required. And again, so should bishops know, 
that they are superior to the presbyters more by cus- 
tom than by the truth of our Lord's disposition." 1 

Inasmuch as St. Jerome admits that all bishops 
are of the same excellence, and of the same episco- 
pate, whether of Rome or Tunis, since he urges 
that their power but little, if any, exceeds that of the 
presbyter, and rests more on usage than divine au- 
thority ; since he admits that the keys were conferred 
alike on all the apostles, and carry but a moderate 
power; since he concedes that Christ, rather than 
Peter, is the foundation of the church ; his contrast of 
the Nicene faith of Rome, his own early faith, with 
the heresy of the Arians, is no proof of the supremacy 
of Rome. 

I have now answered all the authorities you ad- 
vance by passages from Scripture, from Catholic 
saints, or deductions therefrom. Let me conclude 
by citing one passage from an eminent pagan writer, 
a contemporary of Damasus, for it gives some idea of 
the imperial city, still a place of great resort, splen- 
dor, and opulence, and of the gradual corruption of 
her bishops. Rome, according to Gibbon, was still 
twenty-one miles in circuit, contained forty-eight 
thousand buildings, and more than a million people ; 
many of its structures were seventy feet high, of 
marble, with gilded portals. Julian, the last pagan 
emperor, had died but three years previous ; the rites 
of paganism were still celebrated, and the statues of 
the gods still filled the forum, senate, and temples, 
while the Christians worshipped in humble churches. 

1 See Hieron. Com. in Matth., et Epis. ad Titum. 

9* 



102 THE CATHOLIC. 

The passage I cite will throw also some light on the 
conduct and power of Damasus, and the motives 
which influenced his dependent, St. Jerome, when 
writing the letter in question. The historian Am- 
mianus, in describing the elevation of Damasus to 
the bishopric of Rome, A. D. 366, observes : — 

" The prefecture of Juventius was accompanied 
with peace and plenty : but the tranquillity of his 
government was soon disturbed by a bloody sedition 
of the distracted people. The ardor of Damasus 
and Ursinus to seize the episcopal seat, surpassed 
the ordinary measure of human ambition. They 
contended with the rage of party; the quarrel was 
maintained by the wounds and death of their fol- 
lowers ; and the praefect, unable to resist or to ap- 
pease the tumult, was constrained, by superior vio- 
lence, to retire into the suburbs. Damasus prevailed ; 
the well disputed victory remained on the side of his 
faction ; one hundred and thirty-seven dead bodies l 
were found in the Basilica of Sicininus, where the 
Christians hold their religious assemblies ; and it was 
long before the angry minds of the people resumed 
their accustomed tranquillity. When I consider the 

1 Jerome himself is forced to allow « erudelissimae interfectiones 
diversi sexus perpetratse." * But an original libol or petition of 
two presbyters of the adverse party has unaccountably escaped. 
They affirm that the doors of the Basilica were burnt, and that 
the roof was untiled ; that Damasus marched at the head of his 
own clergy, grave-diggers, charioteers, and hired gladiators ; that 
none of his party were killed, but that one hundred and sixty 
dead bodies were found. This petition is published by P. Sirmind, 
in the first volume of his works. 

*In Chron. p. 186. 



THE CATHOLIC. 103 

splendor of the capital, I am not astonished that so 
valuable a prize should inflame the desires of ambi- 
tious men, and produce the fiercest and most obsti- 
nate contests. The successful candidate is secure 
that he will be enriched by the offerings of matrons ; a 
that as soon as his dress is composed with be- 
coming care and elegance, he may proceed in his 
chariot through the streets of Rome ; 2 and that the 
sumptuousness of the imperial table will not equal 
the profuse and delicate entertainments provided 
by the taste, and at the expense of the Roman 
pontiffs." 

" How much more rationally " (continues the hon- 
est pagan) "would those pontiffs consult their true 
happiness, if, instead of alleging the greatness of the 
city as an excuse for their manners, they would imi- 
tate the exemplary life of some provincial bishops, 
whose temperance and sobriety, whose mean apparel 
and downcast looks, recommended their pure and 
modest virtue to the Deity, and his true worship- 
pers." " The schism of Damasus and Ursinus," re- 
marks Gibbon, " was extinguished by the exile of the 
latter ; and the wisdom of the prsefect, Prsetextatus, 
restored the tranquillity of the city. Prsetextatus 
was a philosophic pagan, a man of learning, of taste, 
and politeness ; who disguised a reproach in the form 

1 The enemies of Damasus styled him Auriscalpius Matronarwn, 
— the ladies' ear-scratcher. 

2 Gregory Nazianzen * describes the pride and luxury of the 
prelates who reigned in the imperial cities ; their gilt car, fiery 
steeds, numerous train, etc. The crowd gave way as to a wild 
beast. 

* Orat, XXXII. p. 526, 



104 THE CATHOLIC. 

of a jest, when he assured Damasus, that if he could 
obtain the bishopric of Rome, he himself would im- 
mediately embrace the Christian religion. This 
lively picture of the wealth and luxury of the popes 
in the fourth century, becomes the more curious, as 
it represents the intermediate degree between the 
humble poverty of the apostolic fisherman, and the 
royal state of a temporal prince,, whose dominions 
extend from the confines of Naples to the banks of 
the Po." 

What a picture is this of the meekness, purity, 
and temperance of the Roman bishops in the fourth 
century ; and does it look like supremacy when pro- 
vincial bishops, such as Basil and Athanasius, con- 
temporaries of St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, and St. 
Augustine, are held up to the fierce and luxurious 
Damasus as examples to be copied ? 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER XIII. 

Boston, March 7, 1853. 

Dear S. . . : — In my last letter we discussed the 
epistle of St. Jerome, from his retreat in Syria, to 
Damasus, the aspiring bishop of Rome. St. Jerome 
had officiated at Rome as the priest and secretary of 
Damasus, and devoted to the faith of Rome, as es- 
tablished by the councils of Nice; but impressed 
with the vices of the imperial city, he had fled to 
Bethlehem, the birthplace of our Saviour. Valens, 
the associate of Valentinian, was emperor of the 
East, and on the death of St. Athanasius, A. D. 373, had 
established Arian bishops in Egypt and other east- 
ern provinces. St. Jerome, in his affliction, writes to 
his patron, giving a vivid picture of his sorrows. He 
paints the defection of the East, and assures him that 
while he asks succor of his colleague, the bishop of 
Egypt, he still clings to the Nicene creed, to the true 
faith still cherished in the West ; that he is in com- 
munion still with Rome, and cannot eat the paschal 
lamb out of one house, or commune with Arians ; 
that he still holds to the chair of Peter, to the rock on 
which the church is founded. 

He assures his bishop, that although abashed by 
his splendor, he presumes on his kindness. He bids 
him fling away ambition, virtually to forget for 
awhile the pomp . and vanity of this wicked world, 

(105) 



106 THE CATHOLIC. 

and remember he is a successor of the fisherman, 
and a disciple of the cross. He implores him to 
defend and succor a sheep who has wandered from 
his fold. I have shown the relations of the parties 
which elucidate this epistle. I have proved by his 
own letters, that the blessed Jerome esteems all 
bishops of equal dignity, of human, not divine ap- 
pointment ; that Christ is the only rock on which the 
church is founded, and that the keys were conferred 
on all his disciples. As respects the chair of St. 
Peter, St. Ambrose will put you at ease on that 
point, for he well remarks, " It is not the chair which 
makes the bishop, but the bishop the chair ; nor is it 
the place that hallows the man, but it is the man 
that hallows the place." And St. Jerome himself 
uses the strong expression, " Those are not always 
the children of holy men, who occupy the places of 
the holy." 

While the letter to Damasus fails entirely to sus- 
tain the pretensions of Rome, it opens a mine of 
wealth to those who question such pretensions, for it 
directs us to the actual condition of the Church of 
Rome at this epoch in its history. 

The successor of the fishermen and disciple of the 
cross, had not yet assumed the triple crown, or be- 
come ruler of the world. His office was now in the 
transition state. His aspirations were just begin- 
ning. The sumptuous table, the gilded chariot, the 
insignia of office, the devotion and gifts of the rich 
and beautiful, the vain pomp and glory of the world, 
had made that office a prize to be won. In place 
of apostolic toil and martyrdom, luxury and splen- 
dor were incentives to the aspiring. The fire of 



THE CATHOLIC. 107 

worldly ambition was kindled, and the pontiff 
rose to power, not by an humble and liberal spirit, 
not by eloquence and holiness, but fought his way 
to the chair at the head of an armed faction, regard- 
less of bloodshed and sacrilege. Well might St. 
Jerome deprecate ambition, and recur to the humble 
fishermen of Galilee, and the cross of our Saviour. 
Well might he urge Marcella to remove from Rome 
to Bethlehem, and say, " This is a far holier place 
than the Tarpeian rock which the frequent stroke of 
the thunderbolt would prove to have displeased our 
Lord." Well might he fly from the golden portals, 
splendid palaces, and corruption of the metropolis, to 
the deserts of Syria, for the pontiff and his clergy had 
alike yielded to the vanities of the world. Within 
four years after the doors of the chief church at 
Rome were burned, the roof untiled, and an hundred 
and sixty human beings slain by the army of clergy, 
sextons, charioteers, and hired gladiators, who raised 
Damasus to the chair of St. Peter, Valentinian, the 
new emperor of the West, was obliged to interpose. 
He found the abuses of the Church of Rome endan- 
gered the empire, and were tending to subvert the 
State, and, A. d. 370, he issued his edict addressed to 
Damasus, which has become a precedent for modern 
statutes of mortmain, and we may infer from its 
language, the nature and extent of the evils from 
which it sprung, and our inference is confirmed by 
the unwilling testimony of St. Jerome himself. 

This edict was publicly read in all the churches 
of Rome. It admonished the clergy not to frequent 
the houses of widows and virgins, and menaced their 
disobedience with the intervention of the civil judge. 



108 THE CATHOLIC. 

It forbade the clergy and their bishop to receive 
any gifts, legacy, or devise from females, and in case 
any should be made, the donation was confiscated 
by the State. 

St. Jerome admits the licentious conduct of the 
clergy, concedes that they gradually wasted the for- 
tunes of the Roman ladies, and drove a gainful trade 
in gifts and legacies. Both St. Jerome and St. Am- 
brose express their sorrow that such intervention 
was necessary. They mourn for the sad necessity 
from which it arose. The former writes, " He blushes 
to say this law prohibits clergy and monks alone 
fern inheriting what may still be bestowed on play- 
ers, coachmen, prostitutes, and pagan priests. That 
this prohibition is imposed, not by pagans, but by 
Christian emperors, and grieves not for the law, 
but because it was demanded by the vices of the 
clergy." 1 

It was not until the Church of Rome had been 
purified and reformed by the edict of Valentinian, 
that his successor, Theodosius, was willing to place 
Damasus on a footing with Peter, bishop of Alexan- 
dria, when he issued his decree to put down pagan- 
ism, and establish a uniform religion throughout his 
empire. Even then, instead of resorting to the 
blood-stained and luxurious prelate of Rome to over- 
throw the statues of the gods in the forum, temple, 
senate-house, and capitol, he invokes the aid of a 
more humble, but more virtuous provincial, the ven- 
erable Ambrose of Milan, called by the public voice 
from a temporal to a spiritual dominion, who re- 

1 Tom. I. p. 13. 



THE CATHOLIC. 109 

signed a throne for the chair of a bishop, who 
coveted a heavenly, not an earthly diadem ; who 
had dared to withstand even Theodosius in his plen- 
itude of power, when he approached the altar with 
blood-stained hands. 

His purity of life, his apostolic faith and courage, 
his sanctity and devotion, vanquished the gods of 
Rome, who had for three centuries withstood the 
Christian faith, subverted their statues, and the deep- 
seated reverence of the people for their ancient 
mythology. 

It is only to be regretted, that some of the errors 
already beginning to overspread the church, cast a 
few of their shadows over such virtuous men and 
devout Christians as Ambrose and Chrysostom, 
while they rest in portentous darkness on the char- 
acter of the sacrilegious Damasus. But I will not 
enlarge further upon this topic. There is obviously 
little of the saint or the apostle in the composition 
of St. Damasus, and there is nothing in the adulation 
or prayer of his humble dependent, St. Jerome, or in 
his other writings, which can establish either the 
sanctity or supremacy of this pontiff at the close of 
the fourth century. 

Follow, if you please, the pages of history from 
this period for centuries onward, and you will find 
the emperors presiding over divided councils, the 
influence of the bishops of Antioch, Alexandria, 
Rome, and Constantinople, alternately predominat- 
ing, and various sects springing up to divide the 
church. 

Among the more prominent of these were the 
Nestorian Christians. Their religion, under Theo- 

10 



110 THE CATHOLIC. 

dosius, was the court religion, and now become most 
widely diffused. Nestorius removed from Antioch to 
Constantinople early in the fifth century. He dif- 
fered from others on the incarnation and the adora- 
tion of the Virgin Mary, then recently introduced. 
Nestorius proposed views which many consider 
truthful. He was opposed to images and other de- 
partures from the early worship. His faith, approved 
by an emperor, struck deep root and gained numer- 
ous supporters. 

The church divided. Eventually the emperor 
changed his faith, and Nestorius was banished 
from the capital. But his disciples following the 
footsteps of St. Thomas, the apostle, bore his faith 
across Assyria, Persia, Media, India, and the wastes 
of Tartary to China. 

They founded numerous churches and bishoprics, 
and in the time of the Caliphs, claimed to be more 
numerous than either the Eastern or Western 
churches. Calling themselves the true church, they 
designated their opponents as regulists, idolaters, 
and heretics. 

When Portugal sent her first ships and Jesuits to 
India, she found these Christians established on the 
Gulf of Persia and the coast of Malabar, but they 
held the Roman Catholics to be idolaters, and would 
neither commune with them or recognize their pope. 

The Jacobites, Malachites, and Armenians, also 
swerved from the church, and some of these denom- 
inations still exist in Ethiopia and Abyssinia, inde- 
pendent of Rome. At length, a. d. 728, Rome her- 
self, after conforming her faith more than once to the 
Eastern emperors, and to a succession of councils, 



THE CATHOLIC. Ill 

varying in their decrees as to the incarnation and 
the respect to be paid to images, seceded from the 
Eastern Empire and churches, and sought the pow- 
erful protection of Charlemagne, leaving to their 
fate the greater part of the inhabitants of Chris- 
tendom. 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER XIV. 

Boston, March 9, 1853. 

My dear S. . . : — While closing my last letter on 
the subject of St. Jerome's epistle to Damasus, and 
the secession of the Church of Rome, I received the 
January number of the Edinburgh Review, a period- 
ical marked by candor and learning, and which I 
now send to your address. You will notice in it a 
review of no less than four modern histories of the 
travels and exploits of St. Paul, tracing him from 
the Greek school of Tarsus, which gave tutors to 
Augustus and Tiberius Caesar, his contemporaries, 
and surpassed in reputation the most distinguished 
schools of Greece, Egypt, and Italy. It follows him 
to the feet of Gamaliel, and to his studies among 
the leading Pharisees of Jerusalem. 

The article before me points out the great requi- 
sites he united for the conversion of the world, his 
knowledge of the religion, literature, and language 
both of the Greeks and Hebrews, his talents as an 
orator, his high privileges as a Roman citizen. 

This article on Saul of Tarsus gives expression 
to my own views and feelings. Let me ask for it 
your candid and careful consideration. Observe how 
he stands forth from the canvas, in contrast with the 
less active and efficient St. Peter. 

(112) 



THE CATHOLIC. 113 

The same review contains another article of deep 
interest. It is upon a treatise by the Chevalier Bun- 
sen, for twelve years minister of his country at 
Rome, and for twenty in London, in which he pays 
a high tribute to the faith and liturgy of the Episco- 
pal church, and identifies a most important manu- 
script, just discovered by an agent of France in a 
Greek monastery. He proves it to be the work of 
St. Hippolytus, a pupil of Irenaeus, the disciple of 
Polycarp, ordained by the Apostle St. John. St. 
Hippolytus was an assistant bishop of Rome from 
A. d. 199 to A. d. 222, and canonized for his holiness 
and his treatise against all the heresies. This 
work is now recovered. He was stationed at the 
new port, constructed by Trajan, near the mouth 
of the Tiber. His statue in marble, representing 
him in a bishop's chair, found three centuries since 
in the cemetery where he was buried, now adorns 
the Vatican library, and his treatise is identified by 
comparison with various extracts in other authors 
and its own internal evidence. 

The book is important, as it gives us some very 
curious facts respecting the character and history of 
two of the early popes of Rome. 

You may remember the position advanced by a 
Roman bishop, that there were no heresies before 
Luther. But, strange confutation ! This very work 
is a specific answer to thirty-two heresies, one of 
which originated with Nicholas, a deacon of the 
apostles ; and St. Hippolytus tells us that his work 
on heresies is a synopsis of the lectures of Irenaeus, 
bishop of Lyons, whose letter you have quoted. 

So far was St. Hippolytus at this early period from 
10* 



114 THE CATHOLIC. 

considering the church of Rome the supreme Catholic 
church, which had a right to issue its decrees to all 
the world, that he puts it in distinct opposition to 
the catholic church. 

At this time, singular as it may appear to a cham- 
pion of Rome, there was no Vulgate, and St. Hippo- 
lytus performed the services of his church and deliv- 
ered his sermons in the Greek language, not because 
it was held to be a sacred tongue, but because it 
was the language of the commercial world. 

It appears also, by his work, that the " clergy were 
not then looked upon in the light of sacrificial or 
mediatorial priests, in the sense of the late Roman 
pretensions, after the introduction of the sacrifice of 
the Mass, nor were they bound by a vow of celi- 
bacy." 

St. Hippolytus also recognizes in the clearest and 
strongest manner the authority of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and the duty of all to make them their study 
and their guide. He says : " There is one God, my 
brethren, and him we know only by the Holy Scrip- 
tures. For in like manner as he who wishes to learn 
the wisdom of this world cannot accomplish it with- 
out studying the doctrine of the philosophers ; thus 
all those who wish to practise divine wisdom will not 
learn from any other source than from the word of 
God. Let us, therefore, see what the Holy Scrip- 
tures pronounce ; let us understand what they teach, 
and let us believe as the Father wishes to be believed, 
and praise the Son as he wishes to be praised, and 
accept the Holy Spirit as he wishes to be given, not 
according to our own will, nor according to our own 
reason, nor forcing what God has given, but let us 



THE CATHOLIC. 115 

see all this as he has willed to show it by the Holy- 
Scrip tures." 

The chevalier ascribes to St. Hippolytus the col- 
lection in the East of the apostolic canons, and pre- 
sents them in his treatise, a most important evidence 
against the pretensions of Rome. Let me conclude 
this letter with a sketch from St. Hippolytus of two 
of the early popes, Zephyrinus and Callistus, A. D. 
199 to A. D. 222, and you shall judge how much they 
exhibited of the virtues of St. Peter. Callistus, the 
fifteenth bishop of Rome, was a Christian slave. 
His master allowed him to keep a bank, or exchange 
office, in which many widows and brethren made de- 
posits. But Callistus was a rogue, and made away 
with the sums intrusted to him, and when the 
fraud could no longer be concealed, he ran away and 
concealed himself in a ship about to leave the port. 
Being discovered, he was returned to his master, and 
subjected to the pistrinum or domestic treadmill. 
Subsequently he broke into a Jewish synagogue, and 
disturbed the Jews at their devotions. For this, 
being brought before the praetor, he was scourged, 
and then exiled to the unhealthy part of Sardinia. 
After some years' detention there, he procured a release 
by artifice, and returned to Rome. Here he attached 
himself to Zephyrinus, a covetous old man, who was 
soon after made the fourteenth bishop of Rome. 
Having obtained an ascendency over the bishop, who 
was ignorant as well as covetous, and received bribes, 
Callistus was employed to manage his clergy, and 
upon the death of Zephyrinus was himself elected to 
the office of bishop of Rome, an office he had long 
coveted. 



116 THE CATHOLIC. 

His doctrines correspond with his history. He 
held, to screen himself, that no bishop could be de- 
posed for any sin, be it even a sin unto death. He 
defended the heresies of Noetus, and claimed the 
power to absolve the guilty. This is the brief history 
of St. Callistus. Do not imagine this picture is over- 
drawn ; it is not portrayed by a modern reformer; it is 
but a miniature sketch by the blessed Hippolytus. 
The recording angel, who must have blushed for the 
sins and failings of his superiors as he wrote them 
down for posterity, and whose writings seem subse- 
quently to have been banished from Rome, was the 
assistant bishop of a suburb of Rome, a saint of the 
Romish calendar. Do you not detect, in the avarice, 
corruption, and fraud of such unworthy bishops, the 
early development of that craft and avarice which, 
under Damasus, expanded into ambition, pomp, and 
display, and under the wing of Charlemagne and his 
illiterate successors ripened into temporal and spiritual 
dominion, and the most unbounded, as well as un- 
founded, pretensions ? 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 

10* 



LETTER XV. 

Boston, March 20, 1853. 

Dear S. . . : — Since I last wrote you on the sub- 
ject of religion, I have been deeply engaged in im- 
portant suits, and made beside a winter journey of 
four hundred miles. I have, however, by availing 
myself of the fragments of time, been able to read 
the treatise of Faber, entitled The Difficulties of 
Romanism, the four volumes of Bunsen's Hippoly- 
tus, fresh from the London press, and Milner's End 
of Controversy, to which you drew my attention. I 
have been delighted with the work of Faber. 

It is elevated in its tone, candid, and logical. It 
deals fairly with the French bishop, to whose treatise 
it replies. The Chevalier Bunsen also gives us a 
work almost invaluable, for it presents a picture of 
the Church of Rome at the close of the second cen- 
tury, one hundred years only after the death of St. 
John, a period respecting which there is almost a 
blank in history. He has published also the early 
canons of the church, revised and corrected by the 
collation of the earliest Greek, Syriac, and Coptic 
manuscripts. The position of the Chevalier entitles 
him to the highest confidence. He is not a proselyt- 
ing priest, but a gentleman of high attainments, and 

(117) 



118 THE CATHOLIC. 

for many years the resident minister of the court of 
Prussia at Rome and London. 

He presents an array of facts and arguments ad- 
verse to the claims of Rome in a calm and dignified 
manner, and I have no doubt his work, so opportune, 
will make a great sensation in the world of letters. 
I have read also the work of Milner, which falls 
greatly below the others in candor and philosophy. 
If it has never been answered, (which permit me to 
doubt,) it easily may be, for no one familiar with the 
subject can be at a loss for answers. Perhaps no 
scholar has thought it worthy of notice, for it is not 
addressed to the philosopher, but to the illiterate, and 
is neither truthful in its facts nor logical in its conclu- 
sions. I am at a loss to determine whether it errs 
from ignorance or design, whether it is written by 
one who is not conversant with truth, or by one who 
adopts the Jesuits' maxim, "that the end sanctions 
the means." 

The impression that it has left upon my mind is, 
that the writer had more of the craft of the serpent 
than the innocence of the dove, for the work is spe- 
cious in its character, bold in its assumptions, and 
studious to suppress whatever makes against its pre- 
tensions. It is also particularly adroit in presenting 
the foes of Rome as avaricious monarchs, licentious 
priests, or members of other denominations, whom it 
arms with arguments alike frivolous and absurd. I 
can conceive that such a book might bewilder a 
youth ; but permit me to hope that when he has ad- 
vanced to some knowledge of history, some acquaint- 
ance with logic, and attained to a glimmering of 
theology, he will feel surprised that a work so shal- 



THE CATHOLIC. 119 

low, ever made the least impression on his brain, I 
have not time to follow the writer through all his 
windings, but layman as I am, I pledge myself in a 
few brief intervals of leisure, to show him up as one 
unworthy of confidence. I must again enter the 
arena, and I feel in my descent from a converse with 
Bunsen and Faber to the discussion of Milner, as if 
I were going down from the high courts of judica- 
ture, hallowed by Wirt, Story, and Webster, to the 
altercations of the petty sessions. You have sum- 
moned me to an impure atmosphere, to encounter a 
less noble adversary, and I will sacrifice pleasure to 
duty. 

The first point in Milner to which I ask your atten- 
tion, is his apology for the use of a foreign tongue in 
divine service, p. 287, 288. That St. Peter and St. 
Paul established the Latin liturgy in the Church of 
Rome and elsewhere, where it now prevails ; and that 
when the Western church was established, Latin was 
the vulgar tongue of Europe. What a deep scholar 
have we here ! What an admirable excuse for the 
Latin service throughout Europe ! He had not dis- 
covered that for the three first centuries Greek was 
the language of the religious, commercial, and lit- 
erary world. " The Greek is read in almost every 
nation, the Latin is confined within its own narrow 
territory." * He did not know that the tutors and 
schoolmasters of Rome were from Grecian schools ; 
that Clement, Ignatius, Hippolytus, and Polycarp, 
Eusebius, and even St. Chrysostom, and other ancient 

1 Graeca leguntur in omnibus fere gentibus, Latina suis finibua 
exiffuis sane continentur. — Cicero. 



120 THE CATHOLIC. 

fathers, wrote and preached in Greek, and we know 
them by a Latin version, and that the bishop of the 
Port of Rome wrote his sermons in Greek, and had 
Greek inscribed on his monument at Rome ; that St. 
Jerome did not translate the Scriptures into the 
Latin Vulgate until the close of the fourth century. 

How familiar this profound theologian must be 
with the original authors ! Does he derive his facts 
as to the use of the Latin tongue from the traditions, 
or the inspirations of Rome ? Is his mere ipse dixit, 
in the face of history and manuscripts, to be the end 
of controversy? 

Again, our author, from pages 52 to 85, endeavors 
to weaken the authority of the Gospel, by suggesting 
that our Saviour gave no express orders to his disci- 
ples to write the gospels, and endeavors to raise tra- 
dition above the New Testament itself, by disparag- 
ing the latter. He is obliged, however, at page 62, 
to concede it was written by divine inspiration ; and 
is not this a command from heaven to destroy the 
whole force of his argument ? 

Again, he says, (page 87,) that St. Paul refers to 
the Old Testament alone in his solemn injunctions 
to Timothy, 1 " To continue in the things he has 
learned," urging, " That from a child thou hast 
known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make 
thee wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ 
Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction." Milner would exclude all the evangel- 
ists from Scripture, for he tells us (page 88) that the 

1 2 Timothy in. 



THE CATHOLIC, 121 

" Old Testament was the only Scripture which Tim- 
othy could have read in his childhood." There is no 
reliance to be placed on this statement. 

St. Paul, just before his martyrdom, in his old age, 
writes to Timothy, that he had known him from his 
boyhood. He refers repeatedly to his pious grand- 
mother and mother, and to his early youth. His epistle 
was written long after the death of our Saviour, and 
the first writings of the apostles, and it may be pre- 
sumed, long after the apostolic canons were framed 
by them, which prescribe the reading of the Scrip- 
tures, both new and old. Milner has no warrant for 
his rash assertion ; and when St. Paul tells us, I All 
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness ; " when even the Ro- 
manist, Milner, concedes, as he does, that the New 
Testament is a Scripture given by inspiration, why 
does not the command of our Saviour to search the 
Scriptures, and the dying injunction of St. Paul, em- 
brace the whole of the inspired Scripture, whether 
complete or incomplete, when such command or in- 
junction were given ? Shall we elevate a proselyting 
priest of a decaying church above our Lord and the 
apostles ? 

Milner would strive first to elevate tradition above 
Scripture, and then infer from that tradition a power 
in a corrupt church to depart even from Scripture 
itself; but he makes a signal failure in his essay. 
The Episcopal church, and nearly all Protestants, 
allow some force to tradition. They respect those 
usages and observances which can be traced back to 
the days of the apostles, and draw from tradition some 

11 



122 THE CATHOLIC. 

proof that Scripture itself is authentic ; but it will re- 
quire more than a Milner to convince them that tra- 
dition is to obliterate Scripture itself, or warrant a 
departure from its clear commands, and the express 
words of the apostles. They will never allow the 
plea of tradition to authorize modern innovations, 
such as the new article of faith which the present 
pope seeks to introduce into the creed of Rome, 
namely, the immaculate conception of the virgin, vir- 
tually this^: that all Christians must believe, on pain 
of damnation, that the mother of our Lord shared 
his divine prerogatives, in being exempt from orig- 
inal *sin ; or the doctrine, now in fashion at Rome, 
that the papal monarchy is limited only by the papal 
will, (which you must promise to obey,) and that 
nothing can correct or arrest the pope, whatever he 
may do, or whatever he may decree in regard to the 
Christian religion. Can a free-born American swear 
fealty at the altar to a foreign potentate who claims 
to be an absolute sovereign and pontiff? Can he 
put faith in man rather than in God? If he can, 
when he swears fealty to one whom cardinals and 
prelates have placed on God's altar, and worshipped 
as a deity, let him remember that when Herod 
was proclaimed a God,, 1 he was smitten and eaten by 
worms ; and let him reflect that if the popes of 
Rome have not thus perished, they have reduced the 
Roman race, — once the noblest on earth, — to mis- 
ery, degradation, and despair ; that they have been 
trampled upon by emperors, kings, and usurpers, and 
owe a precarious existence to foreign intervention. 

1 Acts 12: 22. 



THE CATHOLIC. 123 

Again, our most accurate and learned doctor of 
Rome assures us (p. 172,) that Zephyrinus, Callistus, 
and other popes who presided over the church in the 
third age, " were all eminent for their sanctity." I have 
given you a specimen of the sanctity of Zephyrinus 
and Callistus, recorded by a Roman saint ; and if 
sanctity consists of avarice, corruption, profligacy, 
cheating, and heresy, it was personified in them. Is 
this the sanctity of Rome ? Are we to take the picture 
in black and white of a sainted bishop of extreme 
unholiness, or the traditional purity which is present- 
ed to us by the infallible exposition of the Church of 
Rome through the ignorance of her infallible priest ? 
Again, the infallible Milner assures us, in the most 
positive terms (page 230), " That it is incontestable, 
and has been carried to the highest degree of moral 
evidence, that all the Christians of all the nations of 
the world, Greeks as well as Latins, Africans as well 
as Europeans, except Protestants and a handful of 
Vaudois peasants, have in all ages believed, and still 
believe, in the real presence and transubstantiation." 
And on page 79 he insists that the Nestorians and 
Greeks broke off from the Latin church before the 
twelfth century ; that they and all the other Christian 
sectaries of ancient dates, in every article in dispute 
between Catholics and Protestants, (except that con- 
cerning the pope's supremacy,) agree with the former 
and condemn the latter." If he means by Catholics 
the Church of Rome, and that we are bound to pre- 
sume from the whole tenor of his book, then we have 
a long series of positive untruths, which are refuted 
by conclusive evidence. Let me bring the whole ar- 
ray against this mendacious priest. 



124 THE CATHOLIC. 

1st. There is no truth in the position that all Chris- 
tians, of all nations and in all ages, except the Vau- 
dois and modern Protestants, believed in the real 
presence. Catholic writers prove the utter falsehood 
of this assertion, for even popes and the Catholic 
church itself, and the holy fathers, hold the contrary. 
In my letter of February 24th, I showed you that Pope 
Gelasius and Pope Leo the Great, a canonized saint, 
have left writings, in which they both deny the real 
presence. I demonstrated also, by their own books, 
that the blessed Fathers, Cyril, Cyprian, Ambrose, and 
Augustine, and the celebrated Theodoretus, and Ter- 
tullian, all deny, in express and positive terms, the 
real presence of the body and blood of Christ at the 
communion. 

Even St. Chrysostom, who is confirmed by Origen, 
says : " The body of Christ is the dead carcass, and 
we ourselves must be the eagles. This is a table 
of eagles, not of jays," meaning we must fly to heaven 
on eagles' wings to partake of Christ, when we take 
the communion, and not partake of it like voracious 
jays. From these passages the inferences are irresist- 
ible that the real presence was denied by some stand- 
ard authorities of the Catholic church during the first 
five centuries, nor was it established as a doctrine of 
the church until the council of the Latin church, 
held A. D. 1215, by Pope Innocent III., long after the 
secession of the Latin church from the Greek first 
gave it explicit sanction and the name of transub- 
stantiation. Even the Greek church does not adopt 
the doctrine of the real presence ; and yet, in the face 
of all these authorities, the veracious Milner says that 
Berengarius was the first to doubt, and claims all 



THE CATHOLIC. 125 

Christians of every age, except the Vaudois and 
modern Protestants, as believers in the doctrine. 

2d. He says the Nestorians broke from the Catholic 
church, and they differed from it in no point now dis- 
puted by Protestants, except the pope's supremacy. 
This is entirely unfounded in truth. Nestorius, the 
archbishop of Constantinople, was at the head of the 
Greek church, and was sustained by the emperor 
and the church. They broke from him, not he from 
them, and he was sent into banishment. The Nesto- 
rians still exist. They not only denied the papal su- 
premacy, when first asserted, but both then and 
now consider the homage paid by Romanists to 
pictures and images, and to the Virgin Mary, as 
mere idolatry ; they reject the doctrine of auricular 
confession, the mass, and the celibacy of the clergy, 
as well as the papal supremacy, as you will find 
by various authors cited by Gibbon, c. 47, who di- 
rectly contradicts the barefaced assertion of the au- 
thentic Milner. 

3d. He says the Greeks broke from the Catholic 
church before the twelfth century. History proves 
this statement also to be untrue. We learn from 
it that the Latin church, disaffected on the subject 
of the festival of Easter, mourned for its seques- 
tered property, and itself seceded from the Catholic 
church, and resisting the forces of the Greek em- 
peror, sought the protection of Charlemagne. The 
Greek church this day has far stronger claims to 
be the true church than the seceding Church of 
Rome. It traces its bishops in direct succession 
from the apostles ; it retains in the original Greek 
the Scriptures and canons given to it in Greek by 
11 ? 



126 THE CATHOLIC. 

the fathers ; it recognizes the authority of those 
Scriptures, and doubtless respects its old bishops 
and saints, the Greek Fathers Irenseus, Polycarp, 
Ignatius, and Chrysostom, as exponents of those 
Scriptures. It adheres to their precepts and expo- 
sition more closely than the Latin church, and 
compared with it, as the true church, has the van- 
tage ground. 

Why is it not superior in authority to the Church 
of Rome? 

4th. Milner insists that the Greeks, and other ancient 
schismatics, differed from his church on no points 
contested by modern Protestants, except the pope's 
supremacy. But history tells us the Paulicians re^ 
jected images and other innovations ; and we learn 
from the most conclusive evidence both of history 
and travellers, that the Greek church of Russia 
allows and recommends its flocks to read the Scrip- 
tures, which Rome, in many countries, prohibits 
under pain of imprisonment, and for reading which, 
within three months, the Madiai family now toil as 
galley slaves. The Greeks have rejected, and still 
reject, the real presence, the celibacy of the clergy, 
the sacrament of one kind, the worship of images, 
private masses, and indulgences ; and recognize no 
infallibility or divine inspiration on the part of the 
pope or his priesthood. 

I have given you a series of distinct and serious 
falsehoods, branching out into other mistatements, 
embodied in a work which is placed in the hands 
of unsuspicious youths, to allure them into the 
meshes of Rome. I have not leisure to point out 
all the errors and perversions of this fallacious 



THE CATHOLIC, 127 

writer. But what trust can you place in the state- 
ments or inferences of one who in so many instances 
diverges from the sacred truth ? May we not safely 
conclude with the Roman classic, 

" Sic ab uno disce omnes." 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER XVI. 

Boston, November 1, 1855. 

My dear S. . . : — More than two years have now 
elapsed since I wrote you upon the church of Rome, 
and traced her departure from the faith and worship 
of the primitive church. I did not finish the series 
of letters originally proposed, for I ceased to write 
as soon as you yielded to my facts and arguments. 
You require no more letters to keep you a Protes- 
tant ; but a number of clergymen have urged me so 
strongly to finish this series of letters, and then to 
publish them, that I am induced to comply. 

The materials are drawn from many authors. The 
arguments are condensed, and doubtless a jurist may 
present some points in a novel light. It is possible, 
too, that at this moment, when the country begins to 
appreciate the efforts of Rome to establish her col- 
leges, churches, and convents, in all our States, to 
convert imaginative ladies and clergymen, and to ac- 
cumulate vast possessions in the hands of her bish- 
ops, that such letters may prove useful to the public. 
Should they aid others as they have aided you, I 
shall not regret the effort to complete them. 

In my seventh letter, allusion was made to the 
homage paid in Romish churches to images, to the 
worship of the Virgin, and to the waxen candles 
borne in procession, and to the relics and holy water, 

(128) 



THE CATHOLIC. 129 

which are still used to impress the ignorant and super- 
stitious. 

It is my purpose now to prove that the Church of 
Rome, in resorting to these devices, has not only 
departed from the primitive church, but has copied, 
in many particulars, the unholy rites of paganism. In 
doing so, I shall avail myself freely of a letter from 
Rome, written a. d. 1729 by the celebrated Conyers 
Middleton. 

This eminent scholar had ample opportunity to 
witness the pageantry of the church, and the arti- 
fices to which it resorts in Italy, without caution or 
reserve. He traced many of its rites to their origin, 
through the memorials of the past, which still exist 
in that classic land. 

On entering the churches he was particularly struck 
with the use of incense, the smoke and scent of which 
filled the churches after every solemn service, and re- 
called to his mind the heathen temples and altars 
which are seldom or never mentioned by the 
ancients without the terms of perfumed or incensed. 
In some of these churches where you see numerous 
altars smoking with incense, how easy it is to imag- 
ine ourself in the temple of Venus, — 

" Ubi templum illi centumque Sabaso, 
Thure calent arse, sertisque recentibus lialant." * 

And how readily will he recall the lines of Virgil : — 

" Tliuricremis cum dona imponeret aris." 2 

1 " Her hundred altars there with garlands crowned, 
And richest incense smoking, breathe around 
Sweet odors." — Virgil's JEneid, I. 417. 

2 " While placing gifts on incense-burning altars." 

Mneid, IV. 453. 



130 THE CATHOLIC. 

And the verses of Ovid : — 

" Saepe Jovem vidi cum jam sua mittere vellet 
Fulmina, thure dato sustinuisse manum." * 

In the old bas-reliefs, where a heathen sacrifice is 
represented, we never fail to see a boy in white at- 
tending upon the priest, with a little box in his hands 
containing the incense for the altar. And still in the 
Church of Rome there is seen a boy in a surplice 
waiting at the altar with the sacred utensils, among 
which is the thuribulum or vessel of incense, which 
priests with much ceremony wave over the altar 
during the service. 

Under the pagan emperors the use of incense for 
any religious purpose was thought so contrary to the 
obligations of Christianity, that in their persecutions, 
the mode of convicting a Christian was by requiring 
him to throw the least grain of it into the censer or 
on to the altar. 

The Christian emperors, on the contrary, consid- 
ered the rite so heathenish that, under Theodosius, 
the very houses or places where it was burned were 
by law confiscated to government. 

The next thing which attracts the notice of stran- 
gers visiting the churches of Rome is the use of holy 
water. This is taken from a marble font near the 
door, and the priests sprinkle with it all who enter or 
depart. Middleton informs us that even his own 
horses were sprinkled with holy water on a festal 
day, by a priest in a surplice, for the moderate sum 

1 " I have often seen Jove, when about to send his thunderbolt, 
checked by the oiler of incense." 



THE CATHOLIC. 131 

of one shilling and sixpence, just as the horses in the 
Circensian games were sprinkled with water. 

This practice is drawn so directly from paganism 
that the church does not scruple to avow it. The 
Jesuit La Cerda, in commenting on this passage of 

Virgil- 

" Spargens rore levi," * 

says : — 

" Hence was derived the custom of the holy 
church, to provide holy water at the entrance of the 
churches." " Amula," says the learned Montfaucon, 
" was a vase of holy water placed by the heathens at 
the entrance of their temples to sprinkle themselves 
with, and rich vases, designed to hold this water, 
were given by Croesus to the temple of Apollo at 
Delphi." The very composition of this holy water, 
namely, salt mingled with water, was the same 
among the heathen as it now is among the papists, 
and so important a part of their religious offices did 
it form, that the method of excommunicating in pa- 
gan times was to forbid access to the holy water. 

The aspersorium or sprinkling brush, like that now 
used by the priests of Rome, may be seen in the bas- 
reliefs, or ancient coins, among the insignia of the 
pagan priesthood. 

The primitive fathers condemn the use of holy 
water, now sanctioned by the Church of Rome, as a 
custom heathenish, impious, and detestable. Justin 
Martyr says it was invented by demons in imitation 
of baptism, 2 and the apostate Julian used to sprinkle 

1 " Sprinkling with light dew." 

2 Justin Martyr, Apol. I. p. 91. Edit. III. 



132 THE CATHOLIC. 

the provisions in the markets with holy water to com- 
pel the Christians either to starve or to eat what 
according to their religion was polluted. 1 

The scholar, on entering the Church of Rome, is 
further struck by the number of wax candles and 
lamps which are kept constantly burning before the 
shrines and images of saints. These recall to his 
memory many passages in the heathen writers where 
lamps and candles are described as burning before 
the altars and statues of their deities, and he is thus 
furnished with another proof of the conformity of 
popery to paganism. 

Thus Cicero, in his oration against Verres, speaks 
of— 

" Cupidinem argenteum cum lampade." a 

And Virgil writes : — 

" Centum aras posuit, vigilemque sacraverat ignem." 3 

The primitive writers, in commenting on pagan- 
ism, expose the absurdity of this custom. Lactantius, 
an early Christian author, says : " They light up can- 
dles to God, as if he lived in the dark, and do not 
they deserve to pass for madmen who offer lamps to 
the author and giver of light ? " In the ancient inscrip- 
tions many instances are found of donations of lamps 
and candlesticks to the temples of the gods, and 
many of the altars of modern Rome are now deco- 
rated with gold and silver lamps and candlesticks, 

1 C. Mid. Letter, p. 189. 

2 " A silver Cupid with a lamp." — Oration against Verres. 

3 He created an hundred altars, and consecrated the watchful 
flame. — JEneid IV. 200. 



THE CATHOLIC. 133 

the gifts of princes ; and when they are illuminated at 
great festivals by a profusion of waxen candles, 
they resemble the pagan altar or the rich side- 
board of a prince, more than the altar of the living 
God. 

We learn from ancient authors and inscriptions, 
that votive offerings of pictures, images, and tablets 
were suspended in pagan temples. The temples of Es- 
culapius were rich in these offerings, which Livy in- 
forms us were the price of the cures he had effected. 
Even consuls at the head of armies offered gifts to 
Apollo and Esculapius, and miraculous cures were 
ascribed in the inscriptions to those benevolent 
deities. The Church of Rome has copied this usage 
of paganism, gifts of great value are hung at the 
shrines of saints and the Virgin, and the church 
of Loretto has become a proverb for its riches thus 
acquired, as the temple of Apollo at Delphi was once 
a proverb with the ancients for the same reason. 

Homer adverts to it, when he says : — 

" Not all the wealth Apollo's temple holds, 
Can purchase one day's life." 

Robes sparkling with jewels are now presented in 
Romish churches to the Virgin, which are but coun- 
terparts of the robe — 

" Sparkling -with rich embroidery like a star," 

which, we learn from Homer, was presented by Hec- 
uba to Pallas. 

In other respects there is a close resemblance be- 
tween paganism and popery. In the solemnities of 
ancient Rome the chief magistrate took part, dressed 

12 



134 THE CATHOLIC. 

in robes of ceremony. He was attended by priests in 
surplices, bearing wax candles and images, arrayed 
in their most costly robes, and these were followed 
by the youth of the place, singing hymns and bear- 
ing flambeaux. Apuleius gives us this description, 
which might pass as well for a description of a mod- 
ern procession at a festival in Rome. 

It was the practice, too, of the ancient Romans to 
erect altars to their gods on rocks and eminences, and 
in deep groves and forests, and to hang crowns, gar- 
lands, and offerings on stately oaks, and now we 
see through Italy chapels, altars, and oratories in the 
same places, filled with images ; we find there, too, 
votive offerings suspended on oaks or crosses. 

It was the tradition in ancient Rome that on the 
eve of great calamities, the statue of Apollo wept for 
three days and nights successively ; that all the im- 
ages in the temple of Juno sweat drops of blood, and 
the statue of Fortune often spoke aloud, and now we 
hear of Madonnas and images of our Saviour weep- 
ing and speaking, and of the annual melting of the 
blood of St. Januarius, a miracle which Addison long 
since, in his sketches of Italy, described as a clumsy 
imposture. 

The modern priests of Rome have closely copied 
their predecessors, in their processions and their mir- 
acles ; and, when rearing then altars and chapels in 
groves, erecting their crosses, and hanging their gar- 
lands and images upon oaks, and worshipping on 
high mountains, what respect do they pay to the 
command given by God to the Israelites ? " Ye shall 
utterly destroy the places wherein the nation served 
their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the 



THE CATHOLIC. 135 

hills, and under every green tree ; and ye shall over- 
throw their altars, break their pillars, burn their 
groves, and hew down the graven images of their 
eods." l 

In imperial Rome it was the custom to deify the 
emperor and to worship his statue ; but Caligula was 
the first ruler of pagan Rome who offered his foot to 
be kissed. This was considered a gross indignity, and 
Seneca declaims upon it as the last affront to expir- 
ing liberty. But this servile act, which Rome could 
scarcely brook under imperial sway, is now the stand- 
ing ceremonial of the Holy See, and has been, if it 
is not to-day, the condition of access to the reigning 
pope, although it has no better origin than the inso- 
lence of a pagan emperor. 

I might compare the relics of the ancient city with 
those of modern Rome, the staff of Romulus with 
the rod of Moses, the cottage of Romulus with the 
house of Loretto. I might draw a parallel between 
the mendicant priests of Cicero, 2 who exhausted the 
means of families or increased superstition, and the 
mendicant friars of modern Italy. I might compare 
the sanctity of temples with the shelter of churches, 
the austerities of the vestals and pagan priests with 
the seclusion of nunneries and monasteries ; but I 
trust I have already shown the conformity of the 
Church of Rome to ancient paganism. 

Yours, truly and affectionately, 

1 Deut. 12: 2,3. 

2 Described by Cicero. 



LETTER XVII. 

Lynn Beach, November 3, 1855. 

Dear S : — I cannot well finish these letters 

without a brief glance at the Jesuits, that ancient 
and powerful society, long the directors of monarchs 
and now the chief agents of Rome in Europe and 
America. If a papal college is to be established in 
England, a protestant clergyman to be converted at 
Rome ; if in the United States children are to be with- 
drawn from the public schools, and educated by 
a sect ; if churches are to be wrested from the men 
that built them, or church property to be accumu- 
lated in the hands of bishops obedient to a foreign 
sovereign, a Jesuit steps forward to execute the edict. 

The Christian world in the midst of the nineteenth 
century has been startled by a solemn conclave of bish- 
ops assembled from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Amer- 
ica, to settle the question of the immaculate concep- 
tion ; and now by the decree of this conclave, every 
true Catholic is required to believe as an article of 
his faith, and under pain of everlasting perdition, that 
the Virgin Mary was born free from original sin, 
whatever intimations to the contrary he may have 
drawn from Holy Writ. Strange as it may appear to 
the distant observer that Rome should pass a decree 
in the nineteenth century which she olid not hazard 
in the plenitude of her power, our surprise is dimin- 

(130) 



THE CATHOLIC. 137 

ished when we learn from Seymour, in his Mornings 
at Rome with the Jesuits, just issued from the press, 
that in their efforts to convert him they admitted 
that the worship of the Virgin Mary was fast increas- 
ing, and " that the religion of Italy was latterly be- 
coming less and less the religion of Christ," 1 and that 
it was a favorite doctrine of the Jesuits, and taught 
by de Liguori, since canonized by Rome, that a de- 
votion to Mary was more beneficial than a devotion 
to Christ. We need but refer to his miraculous 
ladders wrought into an altar-piece at Milan, in 
which the Virgin appears at the head of one helping 
her votaries into heaven, and our Saviour stands at 
the top of the other, while those who ascend his 
ladder are falling back to the earth. When canons and 
professors of the colleges of Rome admit that worship- 
pers are deserting the altars of our Saviour for the 
shrine of the Virgin, and that they consider the 
Virgin more compassionate than our Saviour, (the 
only intercessor between God and man) ; when we 
see that under this influence a transformation is 
taking place in the faith and religion of Rome, we 
cannot pass by this remarkable society, this anomaly 
in the history of religion. 2 Far be it from me to 
deny the merits of many of its early members or 
their zeal as missionaries, their efforts for education, 
or their ability as editors of the classics, but in trac- 
ing their history we find their converts were but 
partially reclaimed, and have in many cases relapsed 
into heathenism ; that their best scholars were made 

1 Seymour, p. 46. 

8 See Seymour's Mornings among the Jesuits at Rome, p. 46 
to 50. 

12* 



138 THE CATHOLIC. 

Jesuits ; and their authors, however careful as editors, 
rarely enriched the world with original ideas. Com- 
mencing in humility and self-denial, they have 
studied the aggrandizement of their order, and at 
some periods have monopolized the offices of church 
and state. Apparently devoted to religion, they have 
embarked in commerce, and astonished the commer- 
cial world by the extent of their operations. Aiming 
to direct the consciences of mankind, they have es- 
tablished a code of morals in conflict with the Scrip- 
tures. Identified with the Inquisition and intolerant 
of heresy, they have established the most flagrant of 
heresies in Rome itself. After reaching the highest 
pitch of power and greatness in Portugal, Spain, 
France, and Austria have been successively expelled 
from each. After vowing obedience to the pope, 
they are by the verdict of history chargeable with 
the death of a sovereign pontiff. Finally, after 
maintaining the infallibility of the Holy See, they 
have been established by one pope, censured by a 
second, suppressed by a third, and finally restored by 
a fourth infallible pontiff. 

I propose to draw from authentic sources, princi- 
pally Roman Catholic, a brief sketch of the origin, 
code, progress, downfall, and revival of this remarka- 
ble order, whose power, talent, influence, and wealth 
once overshadowed the religious world. 

In 1521, Ignatius Loyala, a young and spirited 
officer of Spain, was wounded at the siege of Pam- 
peluna. Being compelled by his wounds to abandon 
the field of chivalry and the pursuit of pleasure, he 
became a champion "of the Virgin, and after some 
years of devotion and study, having assembled a 



THE CATHOLIC. 139 

number of men of talent he founded the Society of 
Jesus. In 1540 he obtained from Paul Farnese a 
brief, establishing the society under which he became 
the first general of the order. 

The early constitutions of this society have been 
preserved and published ; they may be found in the 
Astor library of New York, and are often referred to 
in the letters of Pascal. The candidates for admis- 
sion must possess either talents, acquirements, rank, 
or wealth ; must be comely in person, tree from all 
personal defects, and able to control their feelings. 
Before reaching the rank of priests, they pass 
through three degrees and undergo a long pro- 
bation, and if at any time dismissed for incompe- 
tence or gross misconduct, the rules of the society 
require they should be dismissed with pleasant 
words, injunctions of secrecy, and a supply of 
money. A general, elected for life, is at the head of 
the society ; he governs with regal power, and all the 
members of the society are bound to yield implicit 
obedience to his orders. He has power to dispense 
with vows, to absolve from obedience to the pope, to 
license either venial or mortal sin, and when he 
directs an act sinful in itself, it must be performed by 
his inferiors in the most effective manner. He ap- 
points all the officers and controls the property of 
the society, and every member must submit his per- 
son, fortune, will, and conscience to his dictation. 

After devotion to the Virgin the first duty of the 
Jesuit is confession. He must confess monthly ; no 
diversity of opinion is permissible, no book can be 
published without the consent of the general, and 
no departure in matters of faith or doctrine are per- 



140 THE CATHOLIC. 

mitted in thought, word, or deed. Each Jesuit is 
made a spy upon his associates, and each one who 
fails to confess or to report any offence to his supe- 
rior, becomes amenable to punishment. 

The conduct and talents of all distinguished 
Jesuits are reported to the general ; each is devoted 
to the service -for which he is found best adapted; 
each directed to receive for the society the emolu- 
ments of office, and while he lives a life of apparent 
humility to do all in his power for the advancement of 
the order. The whole power of the society, whether 
for good or ill, is wielded by the general, and no one 
beside him is permitted to utter an original idea. 

In 1656, Pascal, that prodigy of parts, as he is 
styled by Locke and Stewart, published his Provin- 
cial Letters, and gives us in them the Jesuits' code of 
morals, collected from works published with the 
sanction of their society. These letters, written by 
a Roman Catholic, although assailed, have never 
been refuted, and for two centuries have maintained 
their celebrity. They give us a vivid picture of the 
morals of the society. He tells us " the Jesuits had 
adopted a pliant system of morality, which they 
bent with facility to every taste, every circumstance, 
and every passion. A Jesuit may kill a person who 
insults him, or is about to injure his character." 
Virtually he may punish insult, and even truth itself, 
with death, if injurious to his honor. 1 

These maxims, so revolting to the Christian and 
philosopher of the nineteenth century, are laid down 
with some degree of caution by Jesuit writers, but 

1 See Constitutions, pars. 1, c. II. § 13 ; pars. 6, c. V. § 1 ; pars. 
3,c. I. § 18. 



THE CATHOLIC. 141 

still we find them in their books. Thus in one 
passage we are told, " that whatever celebrated au- 
thors approve is safe in practice." 

In another, that many celebrated authors are of 
opinion that one man may kill another for a box on 
the ear. 

In a third, that whatever is allowed in speculation, 
is allowed in practice. 

In a fourth, that it is allowable in speculation to 
kill for slander. 

And Caramuel, a Jesuit author, states, that more 
" than twenty doctors maintain that a false accusa- 
tion is permissible to maintain one's honor." 

How closely do these maxims agree with the pre- 
cepts of our Saviour, and how much need we won- 
der that the sanguinary code of the duellist found 
favor in France under the rule of the Jesuits, when 
such precepts guided the consciences of its confes- 
sors! 

When pressed on these points the Jesuits have 
sought to avoid them, by the suggestion that the 
order was not responsible for the books or errors of 
its individual members ; but their very rules render 
this ground untenable, for they permit no works to 
be published without the approbation of their 
general. 

I might refer to the secret rules or secreta monita 
of the Jesuits, published in Westphalia, more than 
a century since, by a discarded member, which con- 
firm the authors cited by Pascal. 

I might also refer to the right claimed to depose 
Protestant monarchs from their thrones at the bid- 



142 THE CATHOLIC. 

ding of the pope. But we have without them am- 
ple proof, that the precepts of Christianity were, 
with the Jesuit, subservient to pride and ambi- 
tion. The first aim of the society was to con- 
trol the education of the world, and they selected 
for their teachers, those members who would adopt 
a life of frugality and retirement. Renouncing the 
pleasures of the world, establishing an apparent con- 
cord of science and virtue, they were, to use the lan- 
guage of Alembert, once considered " an assem- 
blage of heroes for religion and humanity." At first 
they taught alike the children of the rich and the 
poor, and took pains to develop the talents of all 
who showed superior intellect, and to draw them into 
the order. Promising a monthly mass and perpetual 
honors to all who should found a college or a school, 
at a period coeval with the revival of letters, their 
society rapidly increased, and soon became the prin- 
cipal teachers of Europe. 

Their defender, Leibnitz, concedes, " there were 
among them men of ardent minds, who, cost what 
it would, sometimes attempted measures not alto- 
gether justifiable, for the aggrandizement of the 
order." This class they sent into the world to take 
part in secular affairs, to seek preferment and power, 
and to practise the precepts of their order. Ming- 
ling with the world the Jesuit assumed the " sem- 
blance of a sainted man absorbed in heavenly things, 
while in reality revolving in his capacious mind pro- 
jects of unbounded ambition." He courted the 
favor of courtiers and ministers of State, and became 
the confessor and director of kings. At the close of 



THE CATHOLIC. 143 

their first century, the society had obtained a footing 
in nearly every kingdom of civilized Europe, except 
protestant England. 

At this epoch their power culminated ; they con- 
trolled the education and directed the consciences of 
a large part of Christendom ; they commanded secrets 
and anticipated the action of courts. They aided in 
establishing the inquisition and destroying heresy 
with fire and sword. They met and checked the 
reformation, and reconquered the south of Europe. 
Their general, Oliva, resigning the immediate super- 
vision of his society to inferiors, became the ally, 
friend, and valued correspondent of most of the 
crowned heads of Europe. He was the depository 
of their secrets and cherished plans, and evinced in 
his published correspondence the skill of a consum- 
mate politician. The society under him attained to 
the plenitude of its power. Forgetting the pre- 
cepts of frugality, humility, and individual poverty, 
and the devotion to education on which it was 
founded, it lived rather on its past fame, than on its 
adaptation to the wants of humanity. Oliva con- 
tinued at its head from 1663 to 1680. Retiring 
from Rome, says Gioberti the Italian historian, to 
a country-seat where he conducted his correspond- 
ence, " he occupied a delicious villa near Albano, 
and enjoyed the pleasures of a table that would 
have tempted the appetite of Vitellius." An example 
so fascinating was not without its influence, and the 
members of the society lost in inglorious ease and 
indulgence, a part of the ardor and energy which 
had aided them in the attainment of wealth, power, 



144 THE CATHOLIC. 

and grandeur, and prevented the ruin of the Church 
of Rome. Thus passed the golden, or rather the 
iron age of the society, but it contained within itself 
the principle of its own dissolution. 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER XVIII. ' 

Lynn Beach, Nov. 5, 1855. 

My dear S : — I gave you in my last a brief 

sketch of the origin and progress of the Jesuits. Be- 
fore I describe their fall, let me cite from the historian 
Macaulay his graphic picture of the order : " The 
activity and zeal of Loyola bore down all opposition, 
and under his rule the order of Jesuits began to ex- 
ist, and grew rapidly to the full measure of its gi- 
gantic powers. With what vehemence, with what 
policy, with what exact discipline, with what dauntless 
courage, with what self-denial, with what forgetful- 
ness of the dearest private ties, with what intense 
and stubborn devotion to a single end, with what un- 
scrupulous laxity and versatility in the choice of 
means, the Jesuits fought the battle of their church, 
is written in every page of the annals of Europe 
during several generations. The order possessed 
itself at once of all the strong-holds which command 
the public mind ; of the pulpit, of the press, of the 
confessional, of the academies. "Wherever the Jes- 
uits preached, the church was too small for the audi- 
ence. The name of a Jesuit on a title-page secured 
the circulation of a book. 

" It was in the ears of a Jesuit that the powerful, and 
the noble, and the beautiful, breathed the secret his- 

13 (145) 



146 THE CATHOLIC. 

tory of their lives. It was at the feet of the Jesuit 
that the youth of the higher and middle classes were 
brought up, from the first rudiments to the courses of 
rhetoric and philosophy. Literature and science, 
lately associated with infidelity or with heresy, now 
became the allies of orthodoxy. 

" Nor was it less their office to plot against the 
thrones and lives of apostate kings, to spread evil 
rumors, to raise tumults, to influence cruel wars, to 
arm the hand of the assassin. Inflexible in nothing 
but in then fidelity to the church, they were equally 
ready to appeal in her cause to the spirit of loyalty 
and to the spirit of freedom. Extreme doctrines of 
obedience and extreme doctrines of liberty, — the 
right of rulers to misgovern the people, the right of 
every one of the people to plunge his knife in the 
heart of a bad ruler, were circulated by the same 
man, according as he addressed himself to the subject 
of Philip or the subject of Elizabeth. Some described 
these men as the most rigid, and some as the most 
indulgent of spiritual directors. And both descrip- 
tions were correct. The truly devout listened with 
awe to the high and saintly morality of the Jesuit. 
The gay cavalier, who had run his rival through the 
body, the frail beauty, who had forgotten her mar- 
riage vow, found in the Jesuit an easy and well-bred 
man of the world, tolerant of the little irregularities 
of people of fashion. The confessor was strict or lax, 
according to the temper of the penitent. His first 
object was to drive no person out of the pale of 
the church, since there were bad people, it was bet- 
ter they should be bad Catholics than bad Protes- 



THE CATHOLIC. 147 

tants. If a person was so unfortunate as to be a 
bravo, or libertine, or a gambler, that was no reason 
for making him a heretic also." 

There is a vein of irony in this description ; but by- 
such zeal, devotion, and energy, by such loose and 
pliant morality, did the Jesuits attain to power. Per- 
vading the world, winning the confidence of favorites, 
statesmen, and princes, they acquired through the 
confessional the secrets of Europe. The general of 
their order, in his delicious villa at Alb an o, was the 
centre of a system, whose telegraphic wires radiated 
to every court in Europe, and were alive to every po- 
litical movement. From this centre he directed his 
agents and controlled the fortunes of Christendom. 

The history of the Jesuits, however, was not free 
from vicissitudes ; and now that I have portrayed 
their rise, progress, and morals, let me picture to you 
their reverses, and the successive steps of their de- 
cline. They did not obtain an ascendency in France 
without a serious struggle. When the crown of 
France devolved on Henry IV., a Protestant prince, 
they denied his title, and published tracts to show 
that he was out of the pale of the church, and ex- 
cluded by heresy from the throne. They were ac- 
tive in forming the League of Catholic Princes, and 
when the valor and prudence of Henry w T on the 
crown, his life was attempted by Chatel, who ad- 
mitted at his trial, that he had learned in a Jesuit 
college that it was lawful to kill the king, and that 
no one should obey him. After this offence, the par- 
liament of France, in 1594, expelled the Jesuits, lev- 
elled the house of Chatel to the ground, and erected 
a pyramid upon the spot, with the inscription that it 



148 THE CATHOLIC. 

was designed " to perpetuate the infamy of the as- 
sassin Chartel and his teachers, the Jesuits, whose 
baneful heresy was the cause of this offence." 

In 1603, Henry IV., having secured his crown and 
embraced the Roman Catholic faith, recalled the Jes- 
uits. The society refer to this result, and to his lan- 
guage on several public occasions, to show their in- 
nocence ; but Sully, the great minister of Henry, has 
transmitted to us in his memoirs the true sentiments 
of his royal master, who told him " he was compelled 
either to recall' the Jesuits and free them from the in- 
famy under which they labored, and to trust to their 
promises, or to banish them more absolutely from his 
kingdom, in which case he should enjoy no peace, 
but live in perpetual fear of an attempt upon his life." 
The easy and kind-hearted monarch, who sacrificed 
his religion to his crown, and aimed at a life of ease 
and pleasure, appreciated their conduct and their 
power, and confided his safety to their gratitude. 

For three centuries they could gain no foothold 
in England, although they made repeated efforts un- 
der Mary, Charles, and James II. Queen Elizabeth, 
in her proclamation of November 15, 1602, declares, 
" the Jesuits had excited her subjects to revolt, invited 
foreign princes to compass her death, engaged in af- 
fairs of State, and undertaken to dispose of her crown, 
and decrees their expulsion from the kingdom." 

In 1606 Venice expelled them also for plots against 
the State, and after an interval of many years, reluc- 
tantly restored them. 

Their power, however, in the Roman Catholic 
States received no serious check until the latter part 
of the eighteenth century, when the affairs of Europe 



THE CATHOLIC. 149 

were guided by the celebrated ministers of State 
Carvalho, in Portugal, the Duke de Choiseul, in 
France, and the Count de Aranda, in Spain, while 
Austria was ruled by that spirited queen, Maria 
Theresa. Their suppression, also, was not decreed 
until Clement the XlVth, the celebrated author 
Ganganelli, had become pope of Rome. 

The downfall of the Jesuits was preceded by a 
great departure from their ancient poverty and hu- 
mility. They had acquired power, and were intol- 
erant in its exercise. They had usurped the control 
of States, and governed with harshness. They had 
embarked in trade, and aimed to monopolize the 
commerce of the Indies. They had ceased to ed- 
ucate the poor and to elicit talent for their order, 
and confined their education mostly to the classes 
who could compensate them with presents. 

The overthrow of Port Royal, 1 the massacre of 
the Huguenots, the revocation of the edict of Nantes, 
with all which they were identified, the exclusion 
from office in France of every person not entirely 
devoted to their order, alienated the people ; and their 
persecution of the Jansenists, who adopted the purer 
precepts and faith of St. Augustine, gave general 
offence. They provoked also the hostility of men 
of letters, whose influence was beginning to pre- 
dominate. 2 

The order at this period had acquired vast wealth, 
for at the time of its suppression it possessed 39 

1 For an account of Port Royal and the Jansenists, see appen- 
dix, p. 261. 

2 Nouvelles Considerations Versailles, 1817, Nicolini's History, 
p. 328. 

13* 



150 THE CATHOLIC. 

houses, 61 novitiates, 196 seminaries, 335 residences, 
223 missions, 22,782 members ; a property estimated 
at two hundred millions of dollars ; and numbered in 
its ranks 24 cardinals, 19 princes, 121 titular bishops, 
6 electors of the empire, 21 archbishops, and 9 
saints. 

But in the midst of this vast wealth, power, and 
influence, the day of its ruin had arrived. The 
match was upon the mine which had sapped its 
foundations. 

In 1757, an attempt was made to assassinate the 
king of Portugal, and, after a judicial inquiry, several 
parties were sentenced to death. In the course of 
the proceedings, the Jesuits were implicated, and 
Carvalho, Marquis of Pombal, issued an edict for 
their banishment, and declared them traitors and 
rebels. 

This was but a prelude to their expulsion from 
France ; but the more immediate cause was a very 
singular lawsuit. Lavallette, a Jesuit, and General 
of Martinique, purchased large estates and two 
thousand slaves in that island ; he also entered into 
extensive speculations, and became insolvent. His 
creditors commenced a suit against the order of Jes- 
uits, and the parliament deciding against the order, 
it was made liable, by a decree, for more than two 
millions of francs. But this judgment was not 
its only misfortune. The court required it to 
produce the constitutions of the order. A copy of 
this document, which had long been concealed with 
scrupulous care, was produced under a requisition 
from parliament. These constitutions became the 
subject of public discussion, and at length were sub- 



THE CATHOLIC. 151 

mitted to a council of fifty-one French bishops. 
They decided that the article, requiring unlimited 
obedience to the general, conflicted with the laws of 
France, and the duty of the subject to the sov- 
ereign. 1 

At length, in 1764, the parliament of France 
passed a decree, banishing them from the realm, as 
parties opposed to all authority, spiritual and eccle- 
siastical ; and the followers of Jansenius, in no grate- 
ful spirit, wrote their epitaph as follows : — 

A Society 

Which counselled and committed 

Crimes of every Nature, 

The Scourge and Disgrace of Mankind, 

Rulers of Monarchs, 

Perverters of Scripture, 

Aspirants after the Empire 

Of the whole World. 

In 1767, they were implicated in a revolt in Spain. 
King Charles III. had adopted a Capuchin confessor, 
and refused to intrust the reins of government to the 
Jesuits. The Marquis de Ossun, ambassador from 
France, in his despatches to the Duke de Choiseul, nar- 
rates a conversation with the king of Spain upon the 
subject. The king assured him the Jesuits had poi- 
soned the minds of his subjects, and during the re- 
volt of 1767 were detected in the act of distributing 
gold among the populace. This sealed their fate 
in Spain. The Marquis de Aranda sent letters to 
all the provinces, to be opened on a certain day, 
expelling them from the kingdom and confiscating 
their property. 

1 Nicolini's History of the Jesuits, p. 344 to 346. 



152 THE CATHOLIC. 

Austria soon followed the example of Portugal, 
France, and Spain, and united with the other great 
powers of Europe in demanding with one voice from 
the Holy See the suppression of the order. 

Italy was now their refuge, and here they main- 
tained a desperate struggle. One pontiff died, and 
was succeeded by Cardinal Ganganelli, known to 
history as Clement XIV. For five years he tempo- 
rized, listened to complaints, investigated charges, 
and at length, July 23, 1773, issued his memorable 
brief for the entire suppression of the order. 

This paper, issued by the head of the Roman 
Catholic church, and composed by one of the ablest 
pontiffs of the church, after five years' reflection, re- 
cites the various charges which had been made to 
the Holy See against the order. Among them — 

Their insatiable avidity for temporal possessions. 

Their dangerous doctrines. 

Their use and explanations of maxims which the 
Holy See had proscribed as scandalous, and mani- 
festly contrary to good morals ; maxims which had 
produced intestine troubles in the Catholic States. 

Their interference with secular offices. 

And arrives at the conclusion that the church can- 
not maintain a firm and permanent peace without the 
dissolution of the society. 

The brief then proceeds to decree the dissolution 
of the order, the confiscation of its estates, reserving 
a moderate stipend for the members, 1 and to forbid all 
to teach, except those who were determined to main- 
tain the tranquillity of the world. But the society, in 

1 Nicolini, p. 38G ; St. Priest. 



THE CATHOLIC. 153 

its death-struggle, although allied to the Church of 
Rome, was not disposed to acquiesce in the decree, 
or to practise that obedience to the pope which the 
church exacts. While the question was pending, the 
movable property of the society disappeared, its 
current expenses were unpaid, and debts were al- 
lowed to accumulate, sufficient to absorb a large 
portion of its real estate. The death of the pope 
was predicted, in case he signed the brief, and when 
Clement subscribed his name he was heard to say, 
" This suppression will be my death." 

He was then in full activity and in perfect health, 
but in the course of a few months, after eating a 
hearty meal, he became suddenly ill, his appetite and 
strength deserted him ; he told De Benis, the French 
minister, that he was poisoned. He gradually wasted 
away. At length he died. His person, after death, 
exhibited the effects of slow poison. His face was 
livid, his lips blackened, his body emaciated, his hair 
and skin clung to his bed-linen. Rome was nearly 
unanimous in the opinion that he was poisoned, al- 
though the physician Salsetti reported that he could 
find no proof of poison, and ascribed his death to ex- 
cessive perspiration and the poverty of his blood. But 
the concurrence of events, the predictions so soon 
realized, the joy evinced by the Jesuits upon his de- 
cease, the opinion he often expressed, that he was 
poisoned, the singular fact that he was in high health 
seized by a wasting disease, without apparent cause, 
the appearance of his body, the language of his suc- 
cessor, who did not hesitate to express the opinion to 
De Benis, that he paid the forfeit of his life for sign- 
ing the brief, the opinion of De Benis himself, which 



154 THE CATHOLIC. 

appears by the official correspondence of this minister 
with the court of France, all tend to implicate the 
Jesuits. 1 

Clement XIV. apparently sealed with his blood 
the condemnation of the order. 

The fall of the Jesuits and the circumstances at- 
tending it, were a severe blow to the Roman Catholic 
faith. To cite Macaulay again : — 

" The Church of Rome was still in outward show 
as stately and splendid as ever, but her foundations 
were undermined. No State had quitted her com- 
munion or confiscated her revenues (since the Refor- 
mation), but the reverence of the people was every- 
where departing from her. The first great warning 
stroke was the fall of that society which, in the con- 
flict with Protestantism, had saved the Catholic 
church from destruction. The order of Jesus had 
never recovered from the injury received in the strug- 
gle with Port Royal. It was now still more rudely as- 
sailed by the philosophers. Its spirit was broken, its 
reputation was tainted ; insulted by all the men of 
genius in Europe, condemned by the civil magis- 
trates, feebly defended by the chief of the hierarchy, 
it fell, and great was the fall thereof." 

The members of the society, after vain efforts for 
a revocation of the brief, retired into obscurity, to 
wait for brighter days ; or took refuge in the North, 
which was opened to them by Frederick the Great 
and Catherine II, with a view to conciliate the 
Roman Catholic subjects, acquired by the conquest 
of Silesia and the partition of Poland. Here for 

1 Nicolini, St. Priest. 



THE CATHOLIC. 155 

years they lingered, until A. d. 1815, when they began 
to interfere with the institutions of Russia, and Alex- 
ander banished them from St. Petersburg and War- 
saw. 

But with the holy alliance, a brighter day dawned 
upon the Jesuits ; the restored sovereigns were led to 
believe, that they required the aid of Jesuits to 
secure their thrones ; and the Church of Rome, 
prostrated by the revolutions of Europe, looked to 
them for assistance. Before the close of A. D. 1815, 
Pius VII. issued a decree, to rescind the brief of sup- 
pression, alleging their valuable services in Russia, 
their past efficiency, and urging too, that " the bark 
of St. Peter, tossed on stormy seas, required the 
aid of vigorous and experienced rowers." They 
were invited again to Spain and France ; and the 
ancient order, without any reversal of the judgment, 
under which it had been condemned as dangerous to 
the peace and incompatible with the laws of na- 
tions, after a lapse of nearly half a century, found it- 
self restored to its ancient position. Since A. D. 
1815 it has rapidly expanded, it has recovered 
six thousand members, and a large portion of its 
property. 

The society is now commencing in the United 
States, as it began in Europe ; founding colleges 
throughout the Union, educating the poor as well 
as the rich, and selecting the most intelligent for its 
own order, and it is for the future to determine, how 
far it can gain an ascendency, in a country where 
popular sovereignty and education predominate. 

In the Old "World it has usually allied itself with 
fanaticism and arbitrary power against the rights of 



156 THE CATHOLIC. 

the people. What form it is to assume, and what 
aspect to take in the political struggles of America, 
it is for the future to determine. Let us console 
ourselves with the hope that — 

" Magna est Veritas et prsevalebit." 1 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 

1 For sketches of the Jesuits and Jansenists and a description of 
Portroyal, see Appendix, p. 236, 245, 259, 261. 



LETTER XIX. 

Lynn Beach, November, 1855. 

My dear S. . . : — Should you apply to a member 
of the Roman Hierarchy, or ask in a Roman Catholic 
bookstore for the oath or promise to obey the Roman 
pontiff, which is imposed on adults at baptism, or for 
the bishop's oath of obedience to " his Lord the Pope, 
and his successors," without which he cannot be in- 
stalled, some effort would doubtless be made to quiet 
your republican scruples, or you might be told with a 
placid and pleasant smile, as I have been, that such 
vows of obedience relate only to spiritual things. 

Sanguine as I am as to the future prospects of 
the Protestant faith, yet at this moment when the 
Romish Hierarchy claim that they have made great 
progress in England, where they are gaining access 
to her seats of learning and offices in her colleges ; 
when they seek to revive in the Church of England 
the forms and ceremonies of mediaeval times, and 
the superstitious observances of the dark ages ; 
when they tell us, in the language of Bossuet, " that 
Rome is not exhausted in her old age, or the force 
of her voice extinct ; " when they point to England 
as the field for then next triumph, and our divines 
apprise us that they have matured conspiracies to 
restore to the Roman pontiff his domain of Amer- 
ica ; when the emperor of France makes new con- 

1 For bishop's oaths, see Appendix, p. 233. 

14 (157) 



158 THE CATHOLIC. 

cessions to the pope, and sustains his triple crown 
by French bayonets ; when the Emperor of Austria, 
with a blind fatuity, signs a new concordat, by 
which he resigns to the pope the education and 
religion of thirty-four millions, it is well to consider 
the origin, nature, and extent of that papal power, 
which the Church of Rome would have predominate 
in America. 

" The Church," to use the language of our jurist 
Evans, 1 in his able treatise on the Episcopate, 
" is a spiritual kingdom, erected for the promotion 
of the spiritual welfare of mankind. It is not of 
this world, because its chief end relates to an- 
other. It deals entirely with the spirits or souls of 
men, and is therefore a spiritual society. The State, 
on the other hand, is a temporal society erected for 
the promotion of the temporal welfare of mankind. 
Into this, material things largely enter. Hence it 
follows that the State must possess the ultimate 
dominion over material things. So the dominion 
of the State is over the bodies and goods of men, 
that of the Church over their hearts and minds." 

For several centuries the Church of Rome ac- 
quiesced in this view of the relative power of the 
Church and State, and although the seeds of ambi- 
tion began to expand under the reckless and aspir- 
ing Callistus and Damasus, and although Felix 
III., 2 a. d. 383, advised his clergy, " that it was 
safest in causes relating to God, to study to subject 
the royal will to the priesthood," and although men- 
aces were sometimes used by the bishops of Rome, 

1 " The Episcopate," by Hugh Davy Evans, 1855, p. 19. 
fc P. Felix, III. Dist. X. e. 3. 



THE CATHOLIC. 159 

the clergy for centuries afterwards recognized the 
paramount power of the Roman emperor ; and it 
was not until the pontificate of the fierce and im- 
perious Hildebrand, 1 the contemporary of William 
the Conqueror, in the eleventh century, that the 
Roman pontiff claimed a supremacy over kings 
and emperors. 

In the fifth and sixth centuries, Popes Gelasius 2 
and Symmachus, 3 expressly recognize the imperial 
power as superior to their own. 

Thus Pope Gelasius I. writes to the emperor 
Anastasius : — 

"I, as a Roman born, do love, worship, and rever- 
ence thee, as a Roman prince ; " and further, " The 
prelates of religion, aware that empire was conferred 
on thee by Divine Providence, obey thy laws and 
thee." Again he writes, " Christ has distinguished 
the offices of civil and ecclesiastical power, by their 
appropriate acts and dignities," and neither should 
interfere with the other. 

Afterwards, Pope Symmachus I. writes, " We 
did not excommunicate thee, O emperor, but Aca- 
cius." " If you mingle yourself, you are not ex- 
communicated by us, but by yourself." He further 
writes, " that Acacius was excommunicated with the 
assent of the senate ; " that he, the pope, had not pre- 
sumed to excommunicate the emperor, but had 
followed without doubt the acts of his predecessors. 

Again, Pope Gelasius, in another letter, writes, 
" My predecessor (Symmachus) did not so much as 

1 Pope Gregory VII. 

2 P. Gelas. I. Epist. 8, (ad Anast. Im.} 

3 P. Symmachus, I. Epist. 7. 



160 THE CATHOLIC. 

touch the name of the emperor, 1 and repels the 
charge, that Jhe ever condemned Anastasius, the 
emperor." 

Afterwards, Pope Gregory I., 2 as became a good 
and pious man, acknowledged, in his letters, the 
emperor to be " his lord, by God's gift, superior to 
all men, — to whom he was subject, whom he was 
in duty bound to obey, regarding it as high presump- 
tion for any one to set himself above the power of 
the emperor, by assuming the title of universal 
bishop." 

Pope Agatho, in the seventh century, at Rome, 
in the acts of the council, which preceded the 
sixth (Ecumenical Council, A. D. 680, styles the em- 
peror, Constantine Pogonatus, " his Lord," and 
avows " himself with all the presidents of the church, 
servants of the emperor." 

After him, Pope Constantine was commanded 
by the emperor Anastasius to repair to Constantino- 
ple, A. D. 703, and the most holy man, as Anasta- 
sius in his memoirs informs us, did obey the imperial 
mandate. 3 

Even after Pope Boniface III. had obtained from 
the usurper Phocas, the title of universal bishop, 
Pope Gregory II., who withdrew Italy from the 
oriental empire, addresses a letter to the emperor, 
Leo Isaurus, and admits the emperor to be " the lord 
and the king of the Christians," and himself, con- 
sequently, subject to him. 4 

1 P. Gelas. I. Epist. 4. 

2 P. Greg. I- Epist. 11, 26. 

* Anastasius m vit. P. Constansine. 

4 A copy of which in the original Greek, is cited by Barrow. 



THE CATHOLIC. 161 

A noble bishop, more than seven centuries since, 
wrote upon this subject, that "I read, and read 
again the records of the Roman kings and emperors, 
and I nowhere find that any of them was excommu- 
nicated or deprived of his kingdom by the Roman 
pontiff," and this, too, in face of the fact that both in- 
fidels and heretics filled at times the imperial throne. 
If the early popes had power to depose monarchs, 
why were not the apostate and infidel Julian, and the 
Arians, Theodoric and Constantinus, hurled from their 
thrones ? Why have we not in those days heard a 
murmur from the Vatican ? 

But subsequently there was a marvellous change. 
During the ages of superstition the popes of Rome be- 
gan to acquire temporal power, and to indulge in 
worldly ambition. Those decretal letters were fabri- 
cated, which nearly all the critics of Christendom have 
for centuries pronounced spurious, and which carry 
in their language discrepancies and quotations, the 
most conclusive evidence of forgery. These contribu- 
ted at that period to the influence of the popes. 
They took part in the quarrels of princes when 
power was to be gained. Even William of Nor- 
mandy did not embark for England until Alexander 
II., who preceded Hildebrand, had recognized his 
claims, and sent him a ring, with the hair of St. 
Peter, and a consecrated banner. But Pope Alex- 
ander II. did not throw the broad mantle of religion 
over the violence of his invasion without an adequate 
motive, for the historian Hume informs us that Wil- 
liam alone had made an appeal to his tribunal, and 
rendered him umpire in the dispute between him 
and Harold. 



162 THE CATHOLIC. 

England, too, " maintained still a considerable inde- 
pendence in its ecclesiastical administration, and forming 
a world within itself entirely separated from the rest 
of Europe, it had hitherto proved inaccessible to those 
exorbitant claims which supported the grandeur of the 
papacy. Alexander therefore hoped that the French 
and Norman barons, if successful in their enterprise, 
might import into that country a more devoted rever- 
ence for the Holy See, and bring the English churches 
to a nearer conformity with those of the continent. 
He declared himself immediately in favor of Wil- 
liam's claim, pronounced Harold a perjured usurper, 
and denounced excommunication against him and 
his adherents." a 

After the battle of Hastings the papal bull was use- 
ful in effecting the submission of the- clergy, and the 
subjection of the people. William sent to Rome the 
royal banner of Harold, received the first legate from 
the pope, and made Lanfranc, a Milanese monk, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. 2 The exertions of Lanfranc in- 
creased the influence of Rome in England, where the 
insular position of the kingdom favored its progress, 
and where it was less checked by knowledge and 
liberal education than in other kingdoms of Europe. 

Hildebrand became pope during the reign of Wil- 
liam, and consolidated the papal power. Excited by 
the success of William, by the growth of his tempo- 
ral power, by the reverence inspired by the forged 
decretals, by the rank of universal bishop, and the 

1 Sec Hume's History of England, Vol. I. Title Harold. 

2 Lanfranc wrote in defence of the real presence, against Bercn- 
garius, and in those ages of ignorance he was much applauded for 
the performance. — Hume, Vol. I. Title, William the Conqueror. 



THE CATHOLIC. 163 

overthrow of the power of the Eastern emperors in 
Italy, he coined the arrogant language of Boniface 
into maxims for the papacy. These, with the flatter- 
ing words of Thomas Aquinas, 1 the chief of the 
schoolmen, have been adopted as guides by his suc- 
cessors. He was the first to raise the priest's lance 
against the royal diadem, and to demand submission 
of kings and emperors. Indomitable by nature, and 
elated by success, restrained by no respect for human 
rights, he stands preeminent for his pretensions and 
his actual power in the long line of Roman pontiffs. 

What are the nature and extent of the power thus 
usurped by the imperious Hildebrand, and trans- 
mitted to his successors? The leading authorities 
of the Church of Rome, Thomas Aquinas, Bellar- 
mine, and Baronius define this power, and I shall 
refer to them, as Roman Catholic authorities, for its 
extent and nature. The astute Aquinas affirms 
" that the pope, as supreme king of all the world, may 
impose taxes on all Christians, and destroy cities and 
castles to preserve Christianity." 

He adds, " That the pope is at the summit of both 
powers, and when any one is denounced as excom- 
municated for apostasy, his subjects are immediately 
freed from his dominion and then oath of allegiance 
to him." 2 

The learned Bellarmine declares it to be the com- 
mon opinion of Roman Catholics " that the pope, by 

1 Thomas Aquinas, a favorite author of the Romanists, under- 
takes to show in his work against the Greeks " that it is necessary 
for salvation to submit to the Roman pontiff." 

2 Bell. V. 1- 



164 THE CATHOLIC. 

reason of his spiritual power, has, at least indirectly, 
a supreme power even in temporal affairs." 1 

Baronius, the historian of the pontificate, assures 
us that " the civil principality is undoubtedly subject 
to the sacerdotal, and that God has subjected the po- 
litical government to the dominion of the spiritual 
church," 2 and- again, " they are all branded as here- 
tics who take from the Church of Rome and See of 
St. Peter, one of the two swords, and allow only the 
spiritual." 3 

It has been urged by some modern writers that 
the Church of Rome has renounced some of the 
powers assumed by Hildebrand and his successors ; 
but we have no evidence of such relinquishment. 
What council or pope have made such admission 
or confirmed such statement ? No such admission 
or assertion of any individual can be received as evi- 
dence in the face of pontifical acts, unless '* it is de^ 
livered ex cathedra, and bears the seal of the fisher- 
man's ring,"* 

Tf in modern times the Roman pontiff less fre- 
quently exercises in a direct manner his dominion in 
temporal affairs, we may safely infer it is because the 
fitting hour has not yet arrived, or because he prefers 
for the time to follow the doctrine of Bellarmine, and 
to effect indirectly and by the spiritual sword great 
political results. But in the days of William the 

1 Bell. Y. 1. 

2 Baronius, anno 57, § 23, 53. 

3 Baronius, anno 1053, § 14, Haeresi. Politic, anno 1073, § 13. 
4 1 quote from an able article in the North American Review, 

for January, 1856, to which lam indebted for some valuable facts 
and suggestions, as these letters are going to the press. 



THE CATHOLIC. 165 

Conqueror the papal power was in the ascendant, 
the minds of men steeped in ignorance and supersti- 
tion, and debased by civil and religious usurpation. 
Hildebrand was neither fastidious nor easily alarmed. 
He summoned Henry, the emperor of Germany, be- 
fore him to justify his conduct. 

The emperor deposed the pope, and the pope de- 
posed the emperor and absolved his subjects from 
their allegiance. The result was a civil war. At 
length the emperor was obliged to ask forgiveness of 
Hildebrand. 

For three days in January he was compelled to 
wait fasting, clothed in sackcloth, and with naked 
feet, in the ante-room, before he could be allowed to 
kiss the feet of the pontiff. 

The successors of Hildebrand adopted his maxims 
for their guidance, and for eight centuries have in- 
sisted upon their prerogative. 

A. D. 1099 Pope Paschal II. deposed Henry IV., Emperor of Germany. 



1218 


" Innocent III. " 


OthoIV., 


1345 


IV. " 


Frederic II., " " " 


1346 


" Clement VI. " 


Lewis IV., " " " 


1546 


" Paul III. 


The Elector of Cologne. 


1570 


" Pius V. 


Elizabeth, Queen of England 


1588 


" Sixtus V. ' 


Henry, King of Navarre. 



" " " " " The Prince of Conde. 

Let me add, that as late as A. D. 1809, the pope 
issued his anathema against the emperor Napoleon, 
and virtually, if not expressly, absolved all his sub- 
jects from their allegiance. 

Did not the pope also, A. d. 1794, reprobate and 
condemn the acts of the ex parte Council of Pistoia, 
which approved a declaration of the French clergy, 
that the pope had not power to depose kings or ab- 



166 THE CATHOLIC. 

solve subjects from their allegiance, thus by necessary 
implication claiming this power ; and later, in 1851, 
anathematize a book written in Peru to refute the 
doctrine that he who governs in spiritual things gov- 
erns also in temporal ? 

" And even later, in July last, the government of 
Sardinia having passed a law, as the pope recites, 
to suppress almost all monastic and religious commu- 
nities, collegiate churches, etc., and to hand over their 
revenues and property to the free disposition of the 
civil power, he declared this law to be null and void, 
and excommunicated the king and parliament which 
passed if. 

" Moreover, the government of Spain having, as 
the pope again recites, in the same month of July, 
passed a law ordering the sale of church property, 
and issued various decrees, forbidding bishops to con- 
fer holy orders, he, in virtue of his apostolic authority, 
abrogated, and declared null and void the law and 
decree aforesaid. 

" Though the papal hierarchy has renounced none 
of its pretensions, a great change has taken place in 
many parts of the Christian world, and this change 
has doubtless proved a restraint on its conduct. It 
has exercised less frequently the powers which it once 
exercised often. Its thunder has not been so frequent 
or so loud. Well remembering that its power has 
had alternate periods of decline and restoration, it 
waits, and waits patiently, taking care not to excite 
alarm, for the time when the thunder of the Vatican 
shall be again efficient, not only to terrify the igno- 
rant and credulous, but to rally under its banner the 
selfish, ambitious, and sceptical. That it is a politi- 



THE CATHOLIC. 167 

cal, as well as a religious party, its whole career 
gives manifest and forcible testimony." 1 

It has been urged by some followers of the Church 
of Rome, that the Reformation checked the revival 
of letters, and retarded the march of intellect. It is 
doubtless true, that before the dawn of the Reforma- 
tion, the discovery of printing had given an impulse 
to mind, and the capture of Constantinople had en- 
riched Italy with scholars and manuscripts of 
the classics. It is true, also, that while Italy was de- 
pressed by the debasing sensuality of Alexander VI., 
or excited by the wars of Julius III., art had minis- 
tered to luxury, and embellished Rome with some of 
its palaces and galleries, and that the court of Leo 
•X. favored painting and poetry, while the ministers 
of religion, faithless to their God, made its mysteries 
a subject of derision, and the lower classes were en- 
chained in heathen superstition. 

The brief encouragement given to art and letters 
in these periods of vice and infidelity, stand out, how- 
ever, in bold relief in the history of the Roman Hie- 
rarchy, and the traveller may well ask, where are the 
millions buried, which, for more than ten centuries 
have been wrung by the See of Rome from ignorance 
and superstition throughout Christendom ? The Rom- 
ish hierarchy, down to the days of Luther, had done 
little or nothing for the advance of science, and since 
that period, in the fairest provinces of Europe and 
America, in Italy, Austria, Spain, and Portugal, 
and in Mexico, Chili, La Plata, Brazil, Peru, and 
Lower Canada have paralyzed the growth of knowl- 
edge, freedom, and the arts of life. Not content with 

1 See North American Review for January, 1856, p. 124. 



168 THE CATHOLIC. 

establishing the Jesuits to control the sources of 
knowledge and the secrets of the heart, by grasping 
the schools, colleges, and confessional, they have, 
since the discovery of printing, closed another access 
to the mind, by decreeing that no book shall be pub- 
lished, or read, under penalty of fine and excom- 
munication, until its approval by the Inquisition. 
And their minister, the Inquisition, has placed its 
seal of condemnation on not less than seven thou- 
sand volumes, including the works of Locke, Milton, 
and Bacon, and the Holy Scriptures. It has further 
decreed, that any who shall read the last without per- 
mission of a priest, shall " be incapable of receiving 
remission of sins," and incur besides, in some coun- 
tries, a temporal punishment. 

I have alluded to that mysterious engine of the 
Roman Hierarchy, the Inquisition, in using which they 
have combined the spiritual and temporal power, 
dooming those suspected of spiritual errors, I might 
say of spiritual truth, to wearisome imprisonment, 
excruciating torture, an unfair trial, to death by the 
fagot and the stake, and finally, to a confiscation of 
property to their persecutors, accompanied by infamy 
for their posterity. 

It is the only stigma that rests on the reign of the 
Spanish queen, Isabella, that she established a local 
Inquisition, to prevent the relapse of the converted 
Jews and Moriscos. But the general Inquisition did 
not originate in Spain ; it was organized by the sover- 
eign pontiff himself, to prevent the reformation of re- 
ligion. When the doctrines of Luther had pervaded 1 

1 Ranke's History of the Popes, I. p. 136. 



THE CATHOLIC, 169 

Germany, and, passing the Alps, reached even 
Rome ; when a powerful party was formed in Rome 
itself, to reform the church, some of whose prel- 
ates favored reformation at the council of Trent 
Pope Paul IV., alarmed by the progress of events, 
called to his council the cardinals CarafTa and To- 
ledo, stern old Dominicans, and asked them to pro- 
pose a remedy. As the old Inquisition had fallen 
into decay, they advised the pope to establish the 
general Inquisition, as a remedy for the evils he depre- 
cated. The Jesuits account it one of the glories 
of their order, that Loyola, their founder, sup- 
ported the proposition by an elaborate memorial. 
The advice thus given and sustained was accepted, 
and July 21, A. D. 1542, Paul IV. issued his brief for 
a supreme tribunal of the Inquisition, universal in 
its jurisdiction, and on which all others should de- 
pend. By this edict six cardinals were made in- 
quisitors, with authority to delegate their power. 
The tribunal was placed above all civil power. 
Princes, prelates, and all other ranks of life, were 
alike subjected to its authority. It was directed to 
suppress and uproot the errors that have found place 
in Christendom, permitting no vestige of them to 
remain, and by the terms of the brief, it was required 
to imprison the suspected, and punish the guilty, 
both by death and confiscation; and no prince or 
potentate except the pope, was permitted to absolve 
from its sentence. 

Thus were the lives and fortunes of all Christen- 
dom placed at the disposal of the Romish Hierarchy, 
and at the mercy of spies and informers. 

The first movement of the Inquisition was to 
15 



170 THE CATHOLIC, 

prosecute every member of the priesthood at Rome 
who favored reform. The most prominent were im- 
prisoned, driven into exile, executed, or compelled to 
retract. Many of the Franciscans were obliged to 
recant, books favoring reform, together with the 
Holy Scriptures, were prohibited, a dead weight 
placed on the minds of Christians, and all reform 
within the church itself was carefully suppressed. 

I will not trace the progress of the Inquisition 
through the different States of Europe. "Wherever 
it was planted, it effectually checked the progress 
of letters and of science ; and death and desolation 
marked its steps. Authentic records show that in 
Spain alone, more than three hundred thousand 
victims were either burnt at the stake, or sentenced 
to loathsome dungeons or the galleys. 

The testimony was taken in secret, the suspected 
were not confronted with the accuser, the prisoner 
was not allowed to see the charge preferred, or per- 
mitted to communicate with counsel, and tortures 
were applied to aid conviction. 

Fear fell upon the people, and in western Europe, 
peasants, gentry, and nobles hastened to enroll them- 
selves as soldiers of the Inquisition. 

At length human nature could endure no more. 
The people rose ; the prisons and tribunals of the in- 
stitution were generally overthrown, although the 
Roman inquisitor still conducts his trials in the dun- 
geons of the Vatican. 

The Romish Hierarchy have not yet introduced 
the Inquisition into these United States; but they 
pursue here the maxims of Bellarmine, and by 
means of their spiritual authority, exert indirectly a 



THE CATHOLIC. 171 

mighty povjer over temporal affairs. IJven without 
the Inquisition, there still may be tyranny which can 
effectually reach the person and property, through 
the medium of the mind. The torture may be ap- 
plied directly to the spirit, and thus indirectly con- 
trol the person and property quite as successfully as 
the civil power. 

By the speech of J. O. Putnam of Buffalo, de- 
livered last winter in the senate of New York, we 
learn that the council of Roman Catholic bishops, 
convened at Baltimore, a. d. 1849, decreed that " all 
churches, and all other ecclesiastical property, which 
has been acquired by donation, or offerings of the 
faithful for religious or charitable use, belong to the 
bishop of the diocese ; unless it shall be made to 
appear, and be confirmed by writings, that it was 
granted to some religious order of monks, or to some 
congregation of priests, for their use." This claim, 
under which churches are to be wrested from the 
men who built them for their own use, and the 
funds of charitable institutions confided to indi- 
viduals for objects of benevolence, are to be torn 
from trustees selected by the donors, and engrossed 
by bishops obedient to the voice of Rome, instead 
of the demands of an enlightened benevolence, is 
nearly as bold an usurpation as the acts of Hilde- 
brand, in the eleventh century. 

What right has the Roman pontiff, an alien in a 
foreign land, fettered by a narrow faith, by intoler- 
ance and pride, to grasp at millions, and bind those 
millions in perpetual mortmain, to be held in 
obedience to the single voice of a foreign poten^ 
tate ? 



172 THE CATHOLIC. 

It appears, however, that he has succeeded ; that 
he wields a power over temporal affairs which has co- 
erced submission ; which, throughout this vast Union, 
has subjected to him such power and wealth as no 
Girard or Astor has ever held, at least one million 
in Erie, a remote county of New York, and untold 
millions in nearly a thousand other counties of the 
Union. 

We learn from the speech of Mr. Putnam, that 
most of the proprietors and trustees have obeyed 
the bishops, but that one set of trustees, those of 
the church of St. Louis, at Buffalo, had the courage 
to resist their oppressive edict, and dared to brave the 
danger which impended, overcoming the fear which 
led others to submission. They would not yield 
even to the nuncio, Bedini, sent by the Roman pon- 
tiff to convince them. But what was the result ? 

" For simply refusing," as they state in their peti- 
tion to the legislature, " to violate the trust law of 
our State, we have been subjected to the forms of 
excommunication, and our names held up to infamy 
and reproach. For this cause, too, have the whole 
congregation been placed under ban. To our mem- 
bers, the holy rites of baptism and of burial have been 
denied. The marriage sacrament has been refused. 
The priest is forbidden to minister at our altars. In 
sickness and at the hour of death, the holy consola- 
tions of religion are withheld. To the Catholic 
churchman, it is scarcely possible to exaggerate the 
magnitude of such deprivations." 

Does not such coercion, whether it be spiritual or 
temporal, call for the intervention of the State ? 
Are not the rights of property and of conscience to 



THE CATHOLIC. 173 

be protected by the civil power, or is it the policy of 
our States to suffer churches, schools, orphan asy- 
lums, or trust funds to expand by the bequests of 
protestants and the contributions of the illiterate 
poor, and then allow a foreign colossal power, alien 
to our institutions and policy, which has sworn its 
agents to persecute nine tenths of us as heretics, to 
usurp and wield for ever with one will, an amount of 
power and of property, to which no other millionaire 
in America has ever risen or aspired, and before which 
his accumulated millions sink into insignificance ? 1 



1 The avidity of the Romish Hierarchy for power and wealth 
is illustrated in the history of the Council of Trent, by Paulo 
Sarpi Veneto, published in 1620. By reference to page 460, it 
appears that before the Council had finished its sessions, the pope 
was urged by France to grant the communion of the cup. 
This subject, with the marriage of the priests and the use of the 
vulgar tongue in the services of the church, was discussed in a 
Consistory held by the pope, A. d. 1561. In the Consistory, Car- 
dinal Pio di Carpi opposed all these measures, and urged that 
f the grant of the cup would open a gate to demand an abrogation 
of all positive constitutions, by which only the prerogative given by 
Clmst to the Church of Rome, is preserved for by those which are 
1 de jure divino,' no profit doth accrue but that which is spiritual." 
" From the use of the vulgar tongue in the service, the incon- 
venience would follow, that all would think themselves divine," 
the authority of prelates would be disesteemed, and all would 
become heretics." From, the marriage of priests it would ensue, 
*' that having house, wife, and children, they will not depend on the 
pope, but on their prince, and their love of their children will 
make them yield to any prejudice of the church. They will seek 
to make their benefices hereditary, and so in short space the au- 
thority of the apostolic see, will be confined within Home. Before 
single life was instituted, the See of Rome received no profit from 

15* 



174 THE CATHOLIC. 

If England, in ancient times, was obliged to forbid 
the payment of Peter Pence, to make excommu- 
nication penal, and to sequestrate the property of 
the church, when Lord Hardwicke tells us it had 
absorbed more than half of England ; if France, 
Spain, and Sardinia have been obliged to confiscate 
and sell the estates of the Romish Hierarchy ; if 
both the Roman and British empires have been 
obliged, by the avidity of the Church of Rome, to 
pass statutes of mortmain ; may not America derive 
some light from their example ? may she not prohibit 
by law any individual, whether alien or native, to 
hold more than a single church, or single trust fund to 
be limited to a specific sum ? May she not provide 
that on the death of bishops, or in their lifetime, 
the churches they hold in trust, and for which they 
have paid no consideration, shall be transferred 
to trustees for the societies who built them and use 
them for public worship ; that trusts for charities 
shall be resigned by the Roman pontiff and his 
servants to public boards of trustees, acting under 
the direction of the State ; and that all interdicts from 
the pope be forbidden and nullified by law, and that 

oilier nations and cities, and by it is made patron of many bene- 
fices of which marriage would quickly deprive her" 

Convinced by these and other reasons, the pope refused the 
request of France. 

We further learn from this history, that the pope having through 
the Jesuits, and his legates and bishops, the control of the Council 
of Trent, and the sole power of originating measures, prevented 
the reformation of the church, in these and other particulars, and 
subsequently rewarded with rich benefices the bishops most use- 
ful to him in the Council. 



THE CATHOLIC. 175 

such anathemas, when issued by priests or bishops, 
shall subject them to penal law, except in cases 
of moral turpitude of church-members ? 

Should the thunders of the Vatican have voice or 
echo on these shores ? And in States whose con- 
stitutions secure " to every religious society the ex- 
clusive right of electing their own teachers," and 
the right of worshipping God according to the 
dictates of conscience, should a foreign prince or 
prelate be allowed to turn both pastor and people 
out of doors, unless they conform their faith and 
their worship to his direction ? 1 Would not remiss- 
ness on these points tend to perpetuate and increase 
among us a population, whose volitions would not 
be their own, and who would check also the progress 
of their fellow-citizens ; and are not our Roman 
Catholics also as well entitled to the protection of 
law, as the protestant himself? 

These are questions which demand the study of 
our statesmen. 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 

1 For effects and tendency of papacy, see extract from Barrow, 
Appendix, p. 269. 



LETTER XX. 

Lynn Beach, Nov. 7, 1855. 

Deak S. . . : — In my preceding letters, I have 
questioned the supremacy of the Church of Rome, 
shown its departure from the worship of the early 
Christians, traced its rites and ceremonies to pagan- 
ism, pointed out the successive changes it has 
adopted both in faith and doctrine, portrayed the 
character of its zealous allies the Jesuits, and proved 
by their admissions that it is gradually substituting 
the worship of the Virgin for the adoration of the 
Deity. 

The question then recurs, what vestiges do remain 
of the apostolic church ; what evidence do we possess 
of its rules, faith, and worship, and how far have the 
reformed churches in general, and the Episcopal 
Church in particular, conformed to the same ? The 
inquiry is deeply interesting ; and, to use the words of 
Bunsen, one of the latest and ablest writers on this 
subject, " what true and reflecting Christian is there, 
who can be indifferent to iearn how in the first cen- 
turies, the apostolic men understood the letter of the 
gospel, and how they undertook to realize the mes- 
sage of salvation in doctrine, worship, faith, and life ? 
Here is the commencement of the church ; here is the 
apostolic realization of the Bible." 1 And it is pleasant 

1 Bunsen's Hippolytus. 

(176) 



THE CATHOLIC. 177 

to recur with this great minister of Prussia to the me- 
morials of that primitive church he has so vividly pic- 
tured in his treatise ; a work published by a Prus- 
sian in our own language, a noble tribute from a 
foreign scholar and statesman to the cause of Chris- 
tianity. He adduces proofs that there were in the 
first two centuries, rules and forms derived from 
apostolic times reduced at an early day to writing, 
and revered next after the Scriptures as the canons 
of the church and the rules of worship. Clement, 
the friend of St. Paul and contemporary of St. John, 
refers to them in his letter to the Corinthians ; Ire- 
nseus, the pupil of Polycarp, alludes to the sacred 
ordinances of the apostles. Hippolytus, or the work 
ascribed to him, composed early in the third century, 
recurs to the ecclesiastical rules. St. Augustine, St. 
Jerome, and St. Athanasius in the fourth century, 
and Eusebius and Epiphanius in s. succeeding 
century, refer to or cite from these canons, and 
St. Chrysostom gives copious extracts. At least 
sixty ancient manuscripts, in different languages 
found in Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Abyssinian, and 
Nestorian churches are still extant, and contain 
these ordinances. They were preserved in the great 
churches of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, 
and in others which separated from the mother 
church in the fifth century, as living, practical rules. 
They agree in many particulars, and in most essen- 
tials, and the learned £hevalier, by expunging those 
features in which they differ, has restored them 
nearly to their original shape, and exhibits to us in 
their renovated form, — 



178 THE CATHOLIC. 

— -.4 

1st. The system of instruction. 

2d. The canons of church government. 

3d. The order of worship. 1 

4th. The rules for private life in the primitive 
church. 

These strengthen our argument when we discover 
that they are in direct contradiction to the forms, 
worship, and canons of the Church of Rome. Let 
us, then, in the words of our author, " Instead of 
looking to mediaeval forms, and to the enchanted 
gardens of Rome, or to the fanaticism of superstition 
for our canons, glance at the mirror which the church 
book and house book of the apostolic age hold up 
to us. We see in them the Christian school, the 
Christian worship, and the Christian life, the model 
of every thing great and noble, which has sprung up 
in renewed youth and beauty out of the tomb of the 
old world, and renovated the face of the earth." 

" Whoever," he adds, " idolizes the letter of Byzan- 
tine Christianity, and the system of mediaeval divin- 
ity, breaks with the church of the apostles, forfeits the 
spirit of Christ, and falls out of that very communion 
with the ancient believers which he pretends to cher- 
ish. Whoever seeks the conservative element in the 
restoration of sacerdotal dominion over the con- 
science, and of priest rule over national government, 
proposes not only great political revolutions, but the 
entire downfall of the Hierarchy. 

" Those who have sown superstition, have reaped 
and are reaping unbelief, and those who have sowed 
despotism, have reaped anarchy." 

Let us examine, then, those books of the ancient 

1 For these books, see Appendix, p. 193. 



THE CATHOLIC. 179 

church, and see if we can find in them those features 
which are prominent in the Church of Rome. Let 
us look into its catechism to leam if he who joins 
it is to swear obedience to a pope, or if the an- 
cient church recognizes any supreme or infallible pon- 
tiff. Let us inspect the ritual, and find what adora- 
tion is prescribed for the Virgin Mary ; what hom- 
age is to be paid to saints, statues, or images ; what 
waxen candles are to be lighted, and what incense is 
to be burned, or holy water sprinkled. Let us in- 
quire for the sacrifice of the Mass, and the with- 
holding the cup from the people. Let us criticize 
the canons of the church, and find which of them 
confers the triple crown or the civic sword upon 
pope or bishop, or provides for the celibacy of the 
clergy. Let us study the rules for private life, and 
discover which of them empowers the Christian to 
deceive, to calumniate, or to kill. 

The spirit of inquiry is dispersing the phantoms 
which have started up between us and the early 
fathers, darkening that primitive age, and we can 
now pierce the gloom, place ourselves beside them, 
and test the bold pretensions of the Church of Rome, 

The first book of the primitive church, restored by 
Bunsen, contains the whole system of instruction. 
It provides that candidates for admission into the 
church shall be taught for three years the " Way 
of Life," namely, the precepts of our Saviour, the 
truth of Holy Writ, with purity, meekness, justice, 
and charity, and before baptism they shall be exam- 
ined to learn if they have lived in purity, visited 
the sick, and performed every good work. 

When baptized, they shall be dipped thrice in 



180 THE CATHOLIC. 

the water, after renouncing Satan and all his works, 
and giving their assent to a brief creed, in which 
they recognize the only true God, his Son, our Lord 
and Saviour, born of the Virgin Mary, who was cru- 
cified, and died for our redemption, ascended into 
heaven, whence he shall come to judge the living 
and the dead; and, after expressing their belief in 
the Holy Spirit, the quickener that purifieth the 
church, they were then to be anointed with oil, 
sealed upon the forehead, and to receive the commun- 
ion of both bread and wine^ and become members 
of the church. 

The second book, restored by Bunsen, contains 
the canons of the ancient church. 

It recognizes the several offices of bishops, presby- 
ters, readers, deacons, and deaconesses, and defines 
their duties, qualifications, and appointment, and 
permits a married man to become a bishop. 

The third book defines the order and formalities 
of the service or the Christian sacrifice and worship 
of the ancient church. 

It comprehends the liturgy or general order of 
the service, in two parts. 

1st. A preparatory service for the hearers who 
have not yet taken the pledge, and do not belong 
to the communion of the believers : — A psalm or 
canticle ; a Christian hymn ; lessons from the Old 
and New Testaments ; a homily ; dismissal of the 
hearers, and blessing. 

2d. The service of believers : — the oblation ; salu- 
tation ; preface ; prayers ; communion of all believ- 
ers present, taken both in the bread and the cup : 
the cherubic hymn ; a psalm from Isaiah ; the hymn 



THE CATHOLIC. 181 

of thanksgiving; exhortations and admonitions to 
the congregation ; dismissal and blessing. 

And few early manuscripts of the liturgy are in 
the Latin language so uniformly adopted by the 
Church of Rome. 

In all this ritual there is not the slightest allu- 
sion to the pomp and ceremonies of the Church of 
Rome, or to her innovation of the Mass. 

The fourth book, restored by Bunsen, contains the 
rules of general conduct for all the members of the 
congregation. 

This enjoins upon members to fast in the holy 
week ; to keep the Lord's day as a festival ; regu- 
lates private and public devotions, the allowance of 
time to servants, and the arrangement of funerals 
and cemeteries. It particularly enjoins, also, the 
reading of the Scriptures. - 

The last work revised by our learned author, is 
the law-book of the ancient church, containing the 
canons of the apostles. 

These define the rights and duties of bishops, and 
the offices which warrant the suspension or depriva- 
tion of the clergy. They determine also the canoni- 
cal books of the Old and New Testaments, and the 
ecclesiastical rules and canons. This book, which 
forbids the clergy to embark in secular affairs, or 
to put aside their wives, is directly at variance with 
the practice of the Jesuits and the celibacy of the Ro- 
man priesthood. 

These holy books stand out in bold relief against 
the instruction, worship, and canons of the Church of 
Rome ; but this is not their only value, for they bring 
before us in many of their details, the instruction 

16 



182 THE CATHOLIC. 

and worship of our Episcopal church. In the lapse 
of time it has doubtless diverged in some respects 
from primitive forms, and it may not have entirely 
removed the accretions of the dark ages, but, in its 
form of government, in its noble liturgy, in its full 
communion and established forms, it preserves the 
features of primitive Christianity. The great minis- 
ter of Prussia, himself a Lutheran, speaks of our lit- 
urgy as dignified throughout, notices the English 
prayerbook as a " national institution," and pro- 
nounces it the most important of all Christian ordi- 
nances since the Reformation. " It was," he tells us, 
" a great and blessed thought, this placing in the 
hands of a Christian nation, a book impressing evan- 
gelic truth, not by abstract theological formalities, 
but by an act of worship and edification, and in lan- 
guage intelligible to the congregation; such a book 
alone was capable of becoming a church and house 
book, and such it has become. It is in itself as valu- 
able as the text-book of the ancient church, the frag- 
ments of which we have endeavored to restore, and 
in many points infinitely superior." While, how- 
ever, he bears such testimony in its favor, he would 
have it further improved. He would have it more 
free, and to breathe more faith in the Christian spirit, 
which inspires the praying or teaching speaker. Let 
me conclude this letter with another extract from 
that noble writer, who appreciates so well the liturgy 
and ordinances of our church, but whose views of 
Christianity are not bounded by any forms or ritu- 
als, and who has faith in human progress. To use 
his words : — 

" The great work of Christianity is not a Hierarchy 



THE CATHOLIC. 183 

with her rich rituals and scholastic art and conven- 
tional science ; its miracle is the world in which we 
live. It is the individual standing before his God, 
with his Bible and his self-responsible conscience, 
whether man or woman, layman or clerk. It is the 
Christian household, founded on mutual trust. It is 
the congregation, with its own shepherd and his pat- 
tern household. It is the Christian municipality, 
governing itself by the self-government and mutual 
confidence which are its members. It is the Chris- 
tian nation and State, with her national schools, 
based upon the gospel of the persecuted church ; 
with her universities expanding in the Christian phi- 
losophy founded by the martyrs ; with her national 
hospitals, grown out of the nurseries of the deacon- 
esses of old ; and with her poor-laws, consecrating 
Christian support as a national debt ; finally, with her 
sovereignty of law, and with her religious and civil 
liberty, advancing by reform, and not by revolution. 
Where that work and that faith in its divine power 
live, there is apostolicity, and there is the future of the 
world." 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



LETTER XXI. 

Boston, November 20, 1855. 

I cannot close this correspondence without recur- 
ring to the letter, in which you advanced the propo- 
sition that " the Church of Rome is the only Catholic 
church ; the only apostolic and primitive church ; the 
only church which has preserved its unity ; the only 
church which has not varied one iota in its faith from 
the time of the apostles." And to the subsequent 
proposition, sent to you by a Roman Catholic bishop, 
substantially as follows, namely : " That our Saviour 
must have established a church sufficient to perpetu- 
ate his religion, and consequently that system must 
be false which assumes the insufficiency of his 
church." 

I felt it my duty to refute your first proposition, 
before I dealt with the last. For if I could prove 
that the Church of Rome was neither universal, apos- 
tolic, or primitive, that it had not preserved its unity, 
and had swerved from its original faith and worship, 
I could restate the bishop's proposition, and safely 
ask you to infer that our Saviour would never em- 
ploy a church to perpetuate his religion which was 
neither primitive, catholic, apostolic, or united. And 
that consequently the Church of Rome is not the true 
church of our Saviour. 

The proposition of the bishop, however, deserves 

(184) 



THE CATHOLIC. 185 

a few comments. It is clearly unsound, but is a fair 
specimen of the casuistry of the Church of Rome. 
It assumes, for instance, the purpose and action of our 
Saviour, an assumption manifestly unsafe, since they 
are beyond the scope of human vision. It assumes 
that our Saviour intrusted his religion to an associa- 
tion of frail, perishing men, assembled to worship the 
deity, instead of selecting his chosen apostles to make 
the record and transmit that record to posterity. It 
assumes that mortal men are more competent than 
records, or Holy Writ itself, to perpetuate religion. 
It assumes, finally, without proof, that the Church of 
Rome is the Primitive Catholic Church established 
by our Saviour. 

The Scriptures, and the history of religion, prove 
the frailty of men in every age. The Jews, the chos- 
en people of God, were faithless to the Deity, and 
bowed down before idols and strange gods. Even sov- 
ereign pontiffs have been proved to be apostates and 
libertines. The Church of Rome itself has been 
shown to be a different church from the church of 
our Saviour. The proposition, consequently, falls 
beneath the weight of its own assumptions. I will 
detain you no farther with such fallacies as this, but 
recur to our testimony. 

I have arrayed before you masses of evidence, to 
test the pretensions of the Church of Rome, and that 
evidence is nearly all Catholic. It comes principally 
from the saints that Rome has canonized. Let us 
apply that evidence to the claims you present, and 
ask an impartial verdict. And let us be guided in 
the application by the rule of Tertullian already 
cited, namely : " That only is authentic and genuine 
16* 



186 THE CATHOLIC. 

which was first delivered, while that is false and ex- 
traneous which was last introduced." 

Is, then, the Church of Rome the universal Catho- 
lic Church ? Has it pervaded the world ? Does it 
pervade Asia, Africa, and Northern Europe, or the an- 
cient seats of Christianity, where it wore its primitive 
garb, so different from the vesture of modern Rome ? 

Our evidence gives to this an emphatic negative. 
Asia and Africa have either been subdued by Ma- 
homet, relapsed into heathenism, or, if the light of the 
gospel shines upon them at all, it is either through 
the Greek Church or the Protestant missionaries, 
who are colonizing the coasts of India, Asia Minor, 
China, and Africa. 

The protestant faith pervades the North, and it is 
the protestant faith which is now pervading the world. 
The Anglo-Saxon race, which sustained the great 
reformation of Luther, that race of northern Europe, 
which, in union with the Swede, met and resisted 
the tide of counter reformation, and repelled the In- 
quisition and the Jesuit from its shores, is now in the 
ascendant. The Anglo-Saxon race, numbering less 
than six millions of protestants in the days of Queen 
Elizabeth, now comprise at least fifty-seven mill- 
ions of protestants in Europe, Australia, and Amer- 
ica, and in half a century bid fair to treble their num- 
bers. While the nations subject to the influence of 
Rome, namely, Spain, France, Austria, Italy, and Por- 
tugal, are comparatively stationary, or receding, the 
Anglo-Saxon race, trebling their numbers in each 
half century, possess ten million tons of shipping, or 
four fifths the ships of the globe, control the com- 
merce of the earth, and are diffusing their language, 



THE CATHOLIC 187 

their arts, their power, and their religion through the 
world. They are found alike beneath the torrid zone 
and on the shores of polar seas. 

They are civilizing and reclaiming the wilderness 
in America and Australia, and already stand at the 
doors of China and Japan. 

Unless the Church of Rome can arrest their pro- 
gress, the protestant faith will pervade the world. 
As the religion of our Saviour followed the language 
and commerce of Greece through the civilized 
world, thus in modern days the protestant faith 
follows the path of the Anglo-Saxon, wherever his 
sails whiten the ocean. 

The Church of Rome neither has been, is, or will 
be universal ; it cannot, therefore, be the catholic 
church. 

But if it is not catholic, how far is it primitive ? 

We find in the records of the primitive church 
which we have recovered, conclusive proof that the 
Scriptures, and the bread and the wine, were accessi- 
ble to the laity. We look in vain in these records, 
and in the writings of the earliest saints, for the 
worship of virgins or saints, statues or pictures ; for 
sacred groves and oratories ; for shrines, relics, or ro- 
saries ; for processions, candles, or holy water ; for 
tiaras, crosiers, or triple crowns ; for inquisitors, tor- 
tures, or autos da fe. If the Church of Rome, as 
we have proved, has sanctioned these innovations, 
do they not disprove its claim to be the primitive 
church ? 

And can that church be apostolic which clothes 
its bishops with secular power, which associates with 
itself the Jesuit or the Inquisitor, which sends forth 



188 THE CATHOLIC. 

the one to close the Bible to the laity, to distribute 
tracts in honor of the Virgin, to ascribe supremacy 
and infallibility to the pope, to grant indulgences 
to vice, to proclaim the startling doctrine that the 
end sanctions the means, to urge that it is lawful to 
kill or depose monarchs who exalt the Scriptures 
above the pope, or to bear false witness against 
their neighbors ; and which has sent forth the other 
to stifle free inquiry, to forbid the exercise of private 
judgment, to prohibit reform, and to doom men, 
women, and children to the dungeon and the stake, 
or to a fate still more appalling, without allow- 
ing them the privilege of meeting their accusers face 
to face in fair and open trial ? 

Can such a church be apostolic ? 

The gospels, the epistles, the acts of the apostles, 
the earliest records of the church, sanction no such 
mission, but present one directly antagonistic. 

The Church of Rome is by the proof not apos- 
tolic. Has she, then, been always united, and has 
she never swerved from the faith since the days of 
the apostles ? Let us try her by the evidence. We 
find her at one period denying the real presence by 
the mouth of her sovereign pontiff, at another making 
transubstantiation, or the real presence, an article of 
faith ; at one time she sanctions the Arian, at another 
the Athanasian creed. 

At one epoch she canonizes the Calvinistic Au- 
gustine, at another denounces Luther and Calvin. 
At one time she recognizes neither purgatory, mo- 
nasticism, the mass, the celibacy of the clergy, in- 
cense, holy water, homage to images, or the worship 
of the Virgin, or oaths of obedience to the pope ; 



THE CATHOLIC. 189 

at others, she insists upon each one of them as es- 
sential. 

Estranging herself alike in garb, insignia, worship, 
and faith from the ancient church, the Greek church, 
the Maronites, Nestorians, and Protestants, she claims 
she has been ever united. 

The proof fails to establish either unity, or unfal- 
tering fidelity to her faith. 

May we not then infer, as a necessary consequence, 
that an omniscient Deity would not select a church 
to perpetuate his religion, which is neither primitive, 
catholic, apostolic, or united, or true to its original 
faith? 

It is doubtless unsafe for frail man to argue upon 
the intentions of the Deity ; but, so far as evidence 
exists of those intentions, it is subversive of the 
claims of Rome. 

Far be it from me, in these letters, to proceed one 
tittle beyond the evidence necessary to try the ex- 
clusive claims and pretensions of the Church of 
Rome. While I deplore her departure from the 
primitive church, I would cheerfully accord to her 
members the right to differ from our church, and 
full freedom to worship according to the dictates 
of their consciences. I would concede, too, the piety 
and moral excellence of many of her members, 
who have yielded up their judgment to the Church 
of Rome. 

Erasmus, Bossuet, Fenelon, Cheverus, are names I 
delight to honor. I can bear personal testimony, 
also, to the devotion and piety of inmates of con- 
vents, to the bounteous charities and religious feelings 
of many pious Roman Catholics; but when their 



190 THE CATHOLIC. 

church is presented as the only primitive Catholic 
church, the sole depository and exponent of the gos- 
pel, out of whose pale there is no salvation ; when 
the Jesuit seeks to control our education, and to 
bend towards Rome the ductile minds of the young ; 
when vast power, influence, and possessions are ac- 
cumulating in the hands of bishops, to be wielded 
by the pope or Jesuits of Rome ; when our private 
circles are invaded in the search for proselytes, it 
seems to me time to question the pretensions of 
Rome. 

True it is, that our census proves that the Roman 
Catholics were, in 1850, less than one twentieth 
part of the worshippers in our favored land. True it 
is that the foreigners, as they mingle with our Protes- 
tants, gradually modify their opinions, and begin to 
exercise the right of private judgment, that privilege 
so dear to the Anglo-Saxon ; but still we must re- 
member that vast masses of Roman Catholics annu- 
ally land upon our shores, cluster around the cities 
and villages of the northern States, and form a large 
and growing element in our population ; that they 
have been reared in blind submission to their priests, 
and debarred in most cases from education, by an un- 
wise and oppressive government at home ; and that 
it is the mission of our country in the present century 
to refine and civilize these exiles from Europe. 

Let it also be her mission at the same time, to guard 
our institutions from deterioration. While our coun- 
try performs its Christian office of kindness and phi- 
lanthropy, there are duties which it owes to itself, — 
to illumine and elevate the masses who are to rule its 
destinies ; to deny access to the ballot-box, until the 



THE CATHOLIC. - 191 

voter has at least learned to read and to write, has 
familiarized himself with our institutions, and knows 
how to appreciate their value. 

The voters are our rulers, and those rulers must 
be enlightened, if we would preserve our liberties. 
It is the duty, too, of our country to allow no ac- 
cumulation of power in the hands of individuals 
responsible only to a foreign potentate. Why should 
a bishop of New England be permitted to withdraw 
more than fifty churches from the humble artisan 
or menial who built them, and hand them down in 
rigid mortmain to his successors ? Why should he 
be allowed the privilege of closing the doors of such 
churches on the societies who built them? Is his 
power to accumulate to know no limit to its ex- 
pansion, and no restraint upon its exercise, except 
the pleasure of a foreign potentate ? 

If laws against mortmain were necessary in the 
fourth century, in the days of Damasus, who had no 
army of Jesuits to execute his plans, may they not 
be necessary when we see that order invading our 
shores, aiming as of yore to control the education 
both of rich and poor, and to attract the public 
mind by stately churches and cathedrals, by supe- 
rior music and imposing ceremonies ? 

Why should not the civil law secure to each so- 
ciety their church, the choice of their clergyman, and 
the power to modify their opinions with the progress 
of light, without the forfeiture of their property? 
Again ; if nunneries or convents have no sanction in 
Scripture, and have in the history of Europe proved 
adverse to the progress of nations in virtue, knowl- 
edge, and power, why should not the law discounte- 



192 . THE CATHOLIC. 

nance their erection, and refuse its sanction to all 
vows and contracts for celibacy and seclusion? 

While I would protect convents and nunneries 
from lawless violence, scrupulously guard the rights 
of property, defend all institutions for learning, and 
respect the Roman Catholic hospital, infirmary, and 
asylum ; while I would contend for the utmost liberty 
of all denominations of Christians to worship ac- 
cording to the dictates of their consciences, I conceive 
it to be the most sacred duty of our country to watch 
with jealous care our public schools and seminaries, 
sustained by public funds, and prevent their perver- 
sion, or the application of these funds, or any part of 
them, to institutions sectarian in their character. 
With respect to religion, as well as with respect to 
politics, the price of freedom must be perpetual vigi- 
lance. 

Yours, truly and affectionately. 



APPENDIX. 



CHURCH BOOKS OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, 
AS RESTORED BY BUNSEN. 

BOOK I. 

I. How they who require to be instructed are to be examined 
before they are admitted. 

Those that first come to the mystery of godliness, let 
them be brought to the bishop, or to the presbyters, [by the 
deacons,] and let them be examined as to the causes where- 
fore they come to the Word of the Lord : and let those 
who bring them exactly inquire about their character, 
and give them their testimony* Let their manners and their 
life be inquired into ; and whether they be slaves or free- 
men : and if any one be a slave, let him be asked who is his 
master. If he be a slave to one of the believers, let his 
master be asked if he can give him a good character. If 
he cannot, let him be rejected until he show himself 
to be worthy to his master: but if he does give him a 
good character, let him be admitted. But if he be a slave 
to a heathen, let him be taught to please his master, that 
the word be not blasphemed. If then he have a wife, or 
a woman hath a husband, let them be taught to be con- 
tent with each other, and to live soberly ; but if they be 
unmarried, let them learn not to commit fornication, but 

17 (193) 



194 THE CATHOLIC* 

to enter into lawful marriage ; but if his master be one 
of the faithful, and knows that he is guilty of fornication, 
and yet does not give him a wife, or to the woman an 
husband, let him be separated. 

But if any hath a demon, let him be taught godli- 
ness, but not received into communion before he be cleansed ; 
yet if death be near, let him be received. 

If any one be a maintainer of harlots, let him either leave 
off to prostitute women, or else let him be rejected. 

If a whore come, let her leave off her whoredom, or 
else let her be rejected. 

If a maker of idols come, let him either leave off hi3 
employment, or let him be rejected. 

If one belonging to the theatre come, whether it be man 
or woman, or a charioteer, or a fighter in single combat, 
or a racer, or an exhibitor of a show of gladiators, or an 
Olympic gamester, or one that plays on the flute or on 
the lute at these games, or a dancing-master, or a keeper 
of a public-house, either let them leave off their employ- 
ments, or let them be rejected. 

If a soldier come, let him be taught to do no injustice, 
to accuse no man falsely, and to be content with his al- 
lotted stipend ; if he submit to these rules, let him be re- 
ceived, but if he refuse them, let him be rejected. 

He that is guilty of sins not to be named, a sodomite, 
an effeminate person, a magician, an enchanter, an astrol- 
oger, a diviner, an user of magic verses, a juggler, a 
mountebank, one that makes amulets, a charmer, a sooth- 
sayer, a fortune-teller, an observer of palmistry, he that 
when he meets you observes defects in the eyes or feet 
of the birds, or cats, or noises, or symbolical sounds ; let 
these be proved for some time, for this sort of wicked- 
ness is hard to be washed away; and if they leave off 
those practices, let them be received, but if they will not 
agree to that, let them be rejected. 



APPENDIX. 195 

Let a concubine, who is servant to an unbeliever, and 
confines herself to her master alone, be received; but if 
she be incontinent with others, let her be rejected. 

If one of the believers hath a concubine, if she be a 
bondservant, let him leave off that way, and contract a 
legal matrimony; if she be a free- woman, let him marry 
her in a lawful manner ; if he doth not, let him be re- 
jected ; if she liveth with a believing servant, let her leave 
off, or be rejected. 

He that followeth the Gentile customs or Jewish fables, 
either let him reform, or let him be rejected. 

If any one followeth the sports of the theatre, their 
huntings, or horse-races, or combats, either let him leave 
them off, or let him be rejected. 1 

If we have omitted any thing, the circumstances will 
teach you, for we have all the Spirit of God. 2 

II. How they who are admitted are instructed. 

He who is to be catechized, let him be catechized three 
years ; but if any one be diligent, and has a good will to 
his business, let him be admitted ; for it is not the length 
of time, but the course Cf life that is judged. 3 

He that teacheth, although he be one of the laity, yet 
if he be skilful in the word, and grave in his manners, let 
him teach ; for they shall be all taught of God. 4 

1 Greek Constitut. Book VIII. Compare Copt. Can., Book III. 
can. 4. 

2 Copt. Can., conclusion of can. 41. 

3 Greek Const., Book VIII. ; Copt. Can. II. 42. 

4 Greek Const., Book VIII. 



196 THE CATHOLIC. 

III. The Moral Catechism, or the Doctrine of the Two 
Ways. 

There are two ways, one is the way of life, and the 
other is the way of death : and there is much difference in 
these two ways. But the way of life is, Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, who created thee> 
and thou shalt glorify Him who redeemed thee from death ; 
for this is the first commandment. 

But the second is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
self. On these two commandments hang the* law and the 
prophets. 

Every thing that thou wouldest not should be done to 
thee, that do not thou also to another; that is, what thou 
hatest, do not to another. 

Thou shalt not kill ; thou shalt not commit adultery ; 
thou shalt not commit fornication ; thou shalt not pollute 
a youth ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not be a sor- 
cerer ; thou shalt not use divination ; thou shalt not cause 
a woman to miscarry, neither if she has brought forth a 
a child shalt thou kill it ; thou shalt not covet any thing 
that is thy neighbor's ; thou shalt not bear false witness ; 
thou shalt not speak evil of any one, neither shalt thou 
think evil ; thou shalt not be double-minded, neither shalt 
thou be double-tongued, for a double tongue is a snare of 
death ; thy speech shall not be vain, neither tending to a 
lie ; thou shalt not be covetous, neither rapacious, nor an 
hypocrite, nor of an evil heart, nor proud; thou shalt not 
speak an evil word against thy neighbor; thou shalt not 
hate any man, but thou shalt reprove some, and shalt 
have mercy upon others ; thou shalt pray for some, and 
shalt love others as thy own soul. 

My son, flee from all evil, and hate all evil. Be not 
angry, because anger leads to murder ; for anger is an 



APPENDIX. 197 

evil demon. Be not emulous, neither be contentious nor 
quarrelsome, for envy proceeds from these. 

My son, be not of unlawful desires, because desire 
leadeth to fornication, drawing men to it involuntarily ; 
for lust is a demon. For if the evil spirit of anger is 
united with that of lust, they destroy those who shall re- 
ceive them. And the way of the evil spirit is the sin of 
the soul. For when he spyeth a little way, quietly en- 
tering in he will make the way broad ; and he will take 
with him all other evil spirits ; he will go to that soul, and 
will not leave the man to meditate at all, lest he should 
see the truth. Let a restraint be put upon your anger, 
and curb it with not a little care, that you may cast it 
behind you, lest it should precipitate you into some evil 
deed. For wrath and evil desire, if they be suffered al- 
ways to remain, are demons. And when they have do- 
minion over a man, they change him in soul, that he 
may be prepared for a great deed: and when they have 
led him into unrighteous acts, they deride him, and will 
rejoice in the destruction of that man. 

My son, be not the utterer of an evil expression, nor of 
obscenity, neither be thou haughty, for of these things 
come adulteries. 

My son, be not a diviner, for divination leadeth to idol- 
atry ; neither be thou an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor 
a magician, nor an idolater ; neither teach them, nor hear 
them ; for from these things proceedeth idolatry. 

My son, be not a liar, because a falsehood leadeth to 
blasphemy. Neither be thou a lover of silver, nor a lover 
of vainglory, for from these thefts arise. 

My son, be not a murmurer, because repining leadeth 
a man to blasphemy. Be thou not harsh, nor a thinker 
of evil, for of all these things contentions are begotten. 
But be thou meek, for the meek shall inherit the earth. 
And be thou also merciful, peaceable, compassionate, cleansed 
17* 



198 THE CATHOLIC. 

in thy .heart from all evil. Be thou sincere, gentle, good ; 
trembling at the words of God, which thou hast heard, 
and do thou keep them. Do not exalt thyself, neither 
shalt thou give thy heart to pride, but thou shalt increase 
more and more with the just and humble. Every evil 
which cometh upon thee receive as good, knowing that 
nothing shall come upon thee but from God. 

My son, he who declareth to thee the word of God, and 
hath been the cause of life to thee, and hath given to 
thee the holy seal which is in the Lord, thou shalt love 
him as the apple of thine eyes, and remember him by night 
and day : thou shalt honor him as of the Lord : for in that 
place in which the word of power is, there is the Lord; 
and thou shalt seek his face daily, him, and those who 
remain of the saints, that thou mayest rest thee on their 
words : for he who is united to the saints shall be holy. 

Thou shalt honor him according to thy power, by the 
sweat of thy brow, and by the labor of thy hands : for if 
the Lord hath made thee meet that he might impart to 
thee spiritual food, and spiritual drink, and eternal life, 
by him ; it becometh thee also the more, that thou should- 
est impart to him the food which perisheth and is tem- 
poral ; for the laborer is worthy of his hire. For it is 
written: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out 
the corn; neither doth any one plant a vineyard and not 
eat of the fruit thereof. 

Thou shalt not cause schisms : thou shalt reconcile in 
peace those who contend with one another. Judge in 
righteousness, without acceptation of persons. Reprove 
him who hath sinned, for his sin. Suffer not wealth to 
prevail before God, neither justify the _ unworthy, for 
beauty profiteth not ; but righteous judgment before all. 
Doubt not in thy prayer, thinking whether what thou hast 
asked of Him will be or not. Let it not, indeed, be, 
that when thou receivest thou stretchest out thine hand, 



APPENDIX. 199 

but when thou shouldest give thou drawest thy hand to 
thee. But if thou hast at hand, thou shalt give for the 
redemption of thy sins. Thou shalt not doubt, thou shalt 
give ; neither when thou hast given shalt thou murmur, 
knowing there is a reward of God. Thou shalt not turn 
away from the needy, but shalt communicate with the 
needy in all things : thou shalt not say, these things are 
mine alone. If ye communicate with one another in 
those things which are incorruptible, how much rather 
should ye not do it in those things which are corruptible ? 

I beseech you, my brethren, while you have time, and 
he who asketh remains with you, if you are able to do good 
to them, do not fail in any thing to any one, which you have 
the power to do. 

For the day of the Lord draweth nigh, in which every 
thing that is seen shall be dissolved, and the wicked shall 
be destroyed with it ; for the Lord cometh, and his reward 
is with him. 

Be ye lawgivers to your own selves ; be ye teachers to 
yourselves alone, as God hath taught you. Thou shalt 
keep those things which thou hast received ; thou shalt not 
take from them, neither shalt thou add to them. 1 



IV. How, after the first course of instruction, the Catechu- 
mens undergo an examination, and their conduct is 
investigated before they are admitted to hear the gospel, 
and how long their instruction is to last. 

When they have chosen those appointed to receive bap- 
tism, let their life be inquired into, whether they have lived 
in chastity during the time of being catechumens : whether 
they have honored the widows ; whether they have visited 
the sick ; whether they have fulfilled every good work. 

1 Introduction to the Coptic Canons, Book I. 



200 THE CATHOLIC. 

And if those who have introduced them have witnessed to 
them that they have done thus, let them hear the gospel. 
Let the catechumens be three years hearing the words ; but 
if one hath been diligent and persevereth well in the work, 
the time shall not decide, but the application alone shall en- 
tirely decide it. 1 



V. How they are dismissed with a Blessing after the 
Sermon. 

"When the teacher hath ended the sermon, let the cate- 
chumens pray by themselves apart, and the faithful apart. 
And let the women stand praying in a place in the church, 
apart by themselves,- whether the faithful women or the 
women catechumens. And when they conclude praying, 
let them not give the salutation (peace) before they are 
pure. 

Let the believers salute one another, the men with the 
men alone, and the women with the women. But let not a 
man salute a woman. And let all the women not cover 
their heads with a costly veil, but with a fine cloth of cotton 
alone, for this is their veij. 

When the teacher after the prayer shall lay his hands 
upon the catechumens, let him pray, dismissing them ; 
whether he be an ecclesiastic or a layman who delivereth it, 
let him do so. 2 



VI. The ancient prayers of the Church of Antioch for the 
Catechumens, as recorded by St. Chrysostom. 

( The Catechumens pray silently, the congregation standeth.) 

Let us pray earnestly for the catechumens, that the all- 
loving and all-merciful God may hear their prayer : that He 

1 Copt. Can. b. II. 45a, 42. 2 Copt. Can. b. II. 43, 44. 



APPENDIX. 201 

may open the ears of their hearts, in order that they may 
perceive what no eye hath seen, no ear hath heard, and 
what is not come into the heart of any one : 1 that he may 
teach them the word of truth, and that he may sow in their 
hearts the seed of the fear of God : that he may strengthen 
the faith in their hearts : that he may reveal to them the 
gospel of righteousness : that He may give them a godlike 
mind, pure thoughts, and a virtuous life always to think 
what is of God, to meditate what is of God, to care for what 
is of God. 

Let us pray still more earnestly for them : that He may 
preserve them from every evil and wicked deed, from every 
devilish sin, and from every deceit of the enemy : that He 
may make them worthy, at due time, of the laver of regenera- 
tion, and of the forgiveness of sins : that He may bless their 
going in and their going out, their whole life, their houses, 
and their families : that He may increase and bless their 
children, that He may bring them to the right age, and make 
them wise : that He may thus direct all which they propose 
to do, as may be most expedient for them. 

The Deacon to the Catechumens : — 

Eise! 

Address to the standing Catechumens : — 

Pray for the angel of peace, ye catechumens, that what 
you propose may be fulfilled in peace. 

Pray that this day and all the days of your life may be 
peaceful, and that your end may be Christian. 

Recommend yourselves to the living God and to His 
Christ. 

Bend your heads. 

( They receive the blessing : the whole congregation saying : Amen.) 2 

i Cor. ii. 9. 

2 St. Chrysost. 2d Homily on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. 



202 THE CATHOLIC. 



VII. That a Catechumen who suffered Death for the Faith, 
hath received Baptism in his blood. 

If a catechumen has been apprehended for the name of 
the Lord, let him not hesitate to give the testimony ; for if 
they have taken him by violence that they may kill him, he 
will be justified and receive the forgiveness of his sins ; for 
he will have received baptism in his own blood. 1 



VIII. How after the Course of Instruction has terminated, 
those Catechumens who are to be admitted are sep- 
arated and sealed for being baptized at Easter. 

And when they shall be separated, let them lay hands 
upon them on that day, exorcising them. 

And when the day approacheth on which they shall be 
baptized, let the bishop exorcise each one of them, that he 
may know that they are pure. But if any one is not good, 
or is not clean, let them put him apart, that he may not hear 
the word with the believers ; for it is not possible that a 
stranger can ever be concealed. Let them teach those ap- 
pointed for baptism that they should wash and be made 
free ; that they should be made so on the fifth Sabbath 
(namely, on the Saturday in the fifth week of Lent, the Sat- 
urday before Palm-Sunday). 

Let them, who are to receive baptism, fast on the prep- 
aration of the Sabbath (Friday). But on the Sabbath, 
when those who shall receive have been gathered together 
in one place, by the advice of the bishop, let them all be 
commanded to pray and to kneel ; and when he hath laid 
his hand upon them, let him exorcise every strange spirit 
to flee from them, and not to return into thern from that 
time. And when he hath finished exorcising, let him 

i Copt. Can. b. II. 44. 



APPENDIX. 203 

breathe on them ; and when he hath sealed their foreheads, 
and their ears, and the opening of their mouths, let him 
raise them up ; and let them watch all the night, reading to 
them, and exhorting them. And let those who shall receive 
baptism not take any thing but that alone, which each one 
shall bring in for the thanksgiving ; for it is becoming 
him who is worthy, that he should bring in his offering im- 
mediately. 1 

IX. How the water is to he prepared, and the general 
order of baptism. 

And at the time of the crowing of the cock let tnem first 
pray over the water. Let the water be drawn into the 
font, or flow into it. And let it be thus, if they have no 
scarcity. But if there be a scarcity, let them pour the 
water which shall be found into the font ; and let them un- 
dress themselves, and the young shall be first baptized. 
And after the adult men have been baptized, at the last 
the women, having loosed all their hair, and having laid 
aside their ornaments of gold and silver which were on 
them. Let not any one take a strange garment with him 
into the water. 2 

X. How the oil for the anointing is prepared. 

And at the time which is appointed for the baptism let 
the bishop give thanks over the oil, which putting into a 
vessel, he shall call the oil of thanksgiving. Again, he 
shall take other oil, and exorcising over it, he shall call it 
the oil of exorcism. And a deacon shall bear the oil of 
exorcism, and stand on the left hand of the presbyter. 
Another deacon shall take the oil of thanksgiving, and stand 
on the right hand of the presbyter. 3 

i Copt. Can. b. II. 45b. 2 Copt. Can. b. II. 46. 

3 Copt. Can. b. II. 46. 



204 THE CATHOLIC. 



XL How they are to renounce Satan and be anointed: 
and then say the creed. 

And when the presbyter has taken hold of each one of 
those who are about to receive baptism, let him command 
him to renounce, saying : " I will renounce thee, Satan, and 
all thy service, and all thy works." And when he has re- 
nounced all these, let him anoint him with the oil of exor- 
cism, saying : " Let every spirit depart from thee." And 
let the bishop or the presbyter receive him thus undressed, 
to place him in the water of baptism. Also let the deacon 
go with him into the water, and let him say to him, helping 
him that he may say : " I believe in the only true God, 
the Father Almighty, and in His only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and in the Holy Spirit, the 
quickener." 

And let him who receiveth baptism repeat after all 
these : " I believe thus." And he who bes toweth it shall 
lay his hand upon the head of him who receiveth, dip- 
ping him three times, confessing these things each time. 
And afterwards let him say again : " Dost thou believe 
in our Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God the Fa- 
ther ; that he became man in a wonderful manner for us, 
in an incomprehensible unity, by his Holy Spirit, of 
Mary, the Holy Virgin, without the seed of man, and 
that he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and 
died of his own will once for our redemption, and rose 
on the third day, loosing the bands of death ; that he as- 
cended up into heaven, and sate on the right hand of his 
good Father .on high, and that he cometh again to judge 
the living and the dead at the appearing of him and his 
kingdom ? And dost thou believe in the Holy good 
Spirit, and quickener, who wholly purifieth in the holy 
church ? " Let him again say : " I believe." 1 

i Copt. Can. B. II. 46. 



APPENDIX. 205 

XII. How they are anointed by the Presbyter and clothed 

and conducted ijito the ChurcJu 

And let them go up out of the water, and the presby- 
ter shall anoint him with the oil of thanksgiving, saying : 
"I anoint thee with holy anointing oil, in the name of 
Jesus Christ." Thus he shall anoint every one of the 
rest, and clothe them as the rest, and they shall enter 
into the church. 1 

XIII. How the Bishop and the Elders bless and anoint the 

heads of the Catechumens with the Chrism, and how 
the Baptized give the Peace. 

Let the bishop lay his hand upon them with affection, 
saying : " Lord God, as thou hast made these worthy to 
receive the forgiveness of their sins in the world to come, 
make them worthy to be filled with thy Holy Spirit, and 
send upon them thy grace, that they may serve thee ac- 
cording to thy will, for thine is the glory, thou who art 
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the holy 
church, now and always, and for ever and ever." And 
he shall pour of the oil of thanksgiving in his hand, and 
put his hand upon the head of each, saying, " I anoint 
thee with the holy anointing oil, from .God the Father Al- 
mighty, and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit." And he 
shall seal upon his forehead, saluting him. And he shall 
say, " The Lord be with thee." He, who hath been sealed, 
shall answer, " And with thy spirijp Each one (of the 
presbyters) doing thus with the remaining. And let all the 
people pray together. And all those who receive baptism 
shall be praying ; let them say peace with their mouths. 2 

i Copt. Can. B. H. 46. 2 Ibid* 

18 



206 THE CATHOLIC. 

XIV. How they receive the Eucharist and the Milk and 
Honey. 

Let the deacons bring the eucharist to the bishop, and 
he shall give thanks over the bread, because of the simili- 
tude of the flesh of Christ, and over the cup of wine, 
because it is the blood of Christ, which was poured out 
for every one who believeth on him ; and milk, and honey 
mixed, for fulfilling the promises to the fathers, because he 
hath said, " I will give you a land flowing with milk and 
honey." This is the flesh of Christ, which was given for 
us, that those who believe on him should be nourished by 
it as infants ; that bitterness of heart may be dissipated by 
the sweetness of the Word. All these things the bishop 
shall discourse to those who shall receive baptism. 

And when the bishop hath divided the bread, let him 
give a portion to each of them, saying, " This is the bread 
of heaven, the body of Christ Jesus." Let him who re- 
ceiveth it answer, " Amen." 

And if there are not more presbyters there, let the deacons 
take the cup, and they shall stand in order, that they may 
give them the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord, and the milk 
and the honey. Let him who giveth the cup say, " This 
is the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord ; " and he who receiv- 
ed! it again shall answer, " Amen." 

And when these things have been done, let every one 
hasten to do all good things, and to please God, and to 
take care to live in integrity, being diligent in the church, 
doing those things wflfc they have been taught, proceeding 
in the service of God. 1 

1 Copt. Can. B. II. 46. 



APPENDIX. 207 



BOOK II. 

A. 

THE FIEST SET OF OEDINANCES OF THE CHUKCH OF ALEX- 
ANDER EESPECTING THE CLEEGY.* 



I. How a Bishop is to be elected, and what is required of 

him. 

If there should be a place having a few faithful men in 
it, before the multitude increase, who shall be able to make a 
dedication to pious uses for the bishop, to the extent of 
twelve men, let them write to the churches round about the 
place, in which the multitude of the believers (assemble and) 
are established. v 

That three chosen men in that place may come, that they 
may examine with diligence him who has been thought wor- 
thy of this degree, whether he have a good reputation 
among the people, as being guiltless, without anger, a lover 
of the poor, prudent, wise, not given to wine, not a fornica- 
tor, not covetous, not a contemner, not partial, and the like 
of these things. 

If he have not a wife, it is a good thing ; but if he have 
married a wife, having children, let him abide with her, con- 
tinuing steadfast in every doctrine, able to explain the Scrip- 
tures well ; but if he be ignorant of literature, let him be 
meek ; let him abound in love towards every man, lest they 
should accuse the bishop in any affair, and he should be at 
all culpable. 2 



1 Coptic Collection, First Book ; Ethiopic Collection. 

2 Copt. Coll. Book I. Can. 16, 



(207) 



208 THE CATHOLIC. 

II. That the Bishop is to ordain two, or rather three Pres- 
byters. 

If the bishop whom they shall appoint hath attended to 
the knowledge and patience of the love of God with those 
with him, let him ordain two presbyters when he hath exam- 
ined them, or rather three. 

It behooveth the presbyters that they should live in the 
world, after the manner of old men, removing far off, that 
they should not touch a woman, being charitable, lovers of 
the brethren ; that they should not accept persons, being par- 
takers of the holy mysteries with the bishop, assisting in all 
things, collecting the multitude together, that they may love 
their shepherd. And the presbyters on the right hand have 
the care of those who labor at the altar, that they should 
honor those who are worthy of all honor, and rebuke those 
who merit their rebuke. The presbyters on the left hand 
shall have the care of the people, that they may be upright, 
that no one may be disturbed. And they shall instruct them 
that they should be in all subjection. But when they have 
instructed one, answering contumaciously, those within the 
altar should be of one heart and one mind, that they may 
receive the reward of that honor according to its desert. 
And all the rest shall fear lest they should deviate, and one 
of them should become changed, like one wasting away, and 
all should be brought into captivity. 1 

III. How the Reader is to be proved, and what is required 
of him* 
The reader shall be appointed after he hath been fully 
proved ; one who bridleth his tongue, not a drunkard, not 
a derider in his speech, but decorous in his appearance j 
obedient, being the first to congregate on the Lord's day ; 

i Copt. Can. 17, 18. 



APPENDIX. 209 

a servant knowing what is meet for him, that he may fulfil 
the work of publishing the gospel. For he who filleth the 
ears of others with his doctrines, it becometh him the more 
that he should be a faithful workman before God. 1 



IV a . How the Deacon is to he proved, and what is required 
of him. 

Let the deacons be appointed by three testifying to their 
life. For it is written : " By the mouth of two or three wit- 
nesses shall every word be established." Let them be 
proved in every service, all the people bearing witness to 
them, that they have resided with one wife, have brought 
up their children well, being humble, prudent, meek, sober, 
quiet ; not vehement, nor murmurers ; not double-tongued, 
nor wrathful, for wrath destroyeth the wise ; nor hypocrites. 
They shall not afflict the poor, neither shall they accept the 
persons of the rich; they shall not be drinkers of much 
wine, being ready to act in every good service in secret. 
Cheerful in their habitations, constraining the brethren who 
have, that they should open their hand to give. And they 
also being givers, the goods being in common, that the 
people may honor them with all honor, and all fear, beseech- 
ing with great earnestness those who walk in dissimulation. 
And some they should teach, and some they should rebuke, 
but the rest they should prohibit. But let those who despise, 
and the contumacious, be cast out, knowing that all men who 
are vehement or slanderers fight against Christ. 2 

IV. Additional Ordinance respecting the Deacons. 

Let the deacons be doers of good works, drawing near by 
day and night in every place. They must not exalt them-' 
selves above the poor, neither must they accept the persons 

i Copt. Can. 19. 2 Ibid. 20. 

18* 



210 THE CATHOLIC. 

of the rich. They shall know the afflicted, that they may 
give to him out of their store of provisions ; constraining 
those who are able for good works to gather them in, attend- 
ing to the words of our Master : " I was an hungered, and 
ye gave me meat." For those who have ministered with- 
out sin, gain for themselves much confidence. 1 



V. How three Widows are to be appointed, and what are 
their duties. 

Let three widows be appointed ; two that they may give 
their whole attention to prayer for every one who is in 
temptations, and that they may render thanks to him whom 
they follow. But the other one should be left constantly 
with the women who are tried in sickness, ministering 
well ; watching and telling to the presbyter the things which 
take place. Not a lover of filthy lucre ; not given to drink : 
that she may be able to watch, that she may minister in the 
night. And if another desireth to help to do good works, 
let her do so according to the pleasure of her heart ; for 
these are the good things which the Lord first commanded. 2 



VI. For what purpose Deaconesses are to be appointed. 

Christ gave no place for the women, that they might help 
at the altar. Martha said of Mary, " See how she laughs." 
Mary said, " I laughed not ; but he said to us, teaching, that 
the weak shall be liberated by the strong." 

Some say, it becometh the women to pray standing, 
and that they should not cast themselves down upon the 
earth. 

Women are not to be appointed for a service, besides this 
service only, that they assist the indigent. 3 

1 Copt. Can. 22. 2 Ibid. 21. 8 Ibid. 26-28. 



APPENDIX. 211 



B. 



THE SECOND SET OF OEDINANCES OF THE CHURCH OF 
ALEXANDRIA RESPECTING THE CLERGY.i 



I. How a Bishop is to be elected and ordained, and how 
he is to say the thanksgiving, 

A bishop shall be ordained who hath been chosen by all 
the people and is blameless. "When the name of this one 
hath been named and they have agreed, all the people shall 
assemble together, and the presbyters and deacons, on the 
Lord's day, all the bishops consenting ; and the presbyters 
standing quietly, and they all being silent together, they 
shall pray in their heart tfeat the Holy Spirit may descend 
upon him. And he who is worthy out of the bishops, every 
one standing, putteth his hand upon him whom they have 
made bishop, praying over him. And when he is made a 
bishop, let all give the salutation of peace to him, saluting 
him with the mouth. And let the deacons present the holy 
communion to him. And he, when he hath put his hand 
upon the eucharist with the presbyters, let him say the 
thanksgiving : " The Lord be with you all." Let all the 
people say, " And with thy spirit." He shall say, " Lift up 
your hearts." The people shall say, " We have them to the 
Lord." He shall say again, " Let us give thanks to the 
Lord." All the people shall say, " (It is) worthy and just." 
And let him pray thus, saying the (prayers) following these, 
according to the custom of the holy communion. 2 

1 Coptic Collection, Second Book. 

2 Copt. Coll. book ii. can. 31. 



212 THE CATHOLIC. 

I *. The same, according to the Ethiopic Collection. 
The bishop shall be chosen by all the people. He must 
be without blame, as it is written in the Apostle (Epistle to 
Timothy). In the week in which he is to be ordained, if 
all the people say of him, " We choose him," he is not to 
be molested. And they shall pray over him, and say : " O 
God, show Thy love to this man whom Thou hast prepared 
for us." And they shall choose one of the bishops and one 
of the presbyters ; and they shall lay their hands upon his 
head and pray. 1 

II *. How a Presbyter is to be ordained, according to that same 
Ethiopic Collection. 

When a presbyter is to be ordained, there shall be done 
to him in every respect as is done to a bishop, except plac- 
ing him on the cathedra, and they shall pray over him all 
the prayers of the bishop, except the name of the bishop 
only ; and the presbyter shall equal the bishop in every 
thing except the name of the cathedra and of ordination. 
For he hath not given to him the power- of ordination.? 

II. The same, according to the Coptic Collection. 

And when the bishop shall ordain a presbyter, he shall 
put his hands upon his head, and all the presbyters shall 
touch him. And let him pray over him, according to the 
form which we have spoken of concerning the bishops. 3 

III. How a Deacon is to be appointed, and what is his office. 

And the bishop shall appoint a deacon who hath been 
chosen : the bishop alone shall lay his hands on him : be- 

1 Ethiopic Coll. Can. 2. 2 Ibid. 4. 8 Copt. Can. 32. 



APPENDIX. 213 

cause he shall not be ordained for the priesthood but for the 
service of the bishop, that he may do those things which he 
shall command him. Neither shall he be appointed, that he 
may be of the council of all the clergy, but that he may 
take care of the sick, and he shall make them known to the 
bishop. Neither shall he be appointed that he may receive 
the spirit of greatness which the presbyters shall receive, 
but that he may be worthy that the bishop may believe him 
in those things which it behooveth him. On this account the 
bishop alone shall ordain the deacon. 1 

IV. In what a Bishop differs from an Elder. 

But the bishop shall ordain the presbyter. He shall lay 
the hand on him, because that same spirit cometh upon him : 
for the presbyter receiveth it only, he hath not power to 
give it to the clergy ; therefore he will not be able to appoint 
the clergy. The presbyter is only sealing (is only able to 
baptize and give the spirit to the baptized in anointing him), 
the bishop shall ordain him. 2 

V. That a Confessor needeth no ordination to become Deacon 
or Presbyter. 

But if the confessor hath been in bonds for the name of 
the Lord, they shall not lay hands on him for the service 
(of deacons), or for the office of presbyter, for he hath the 
honor of eldership by his confession. But if they will ap- 
point him for a bishop, they shall lay hands on him. But 
if he is a confessor, he shall not have been taken in before 
the authorities ; neither shall he have been punished with 
bonds ; neither shall he have been cast into prison ; neither 
shall he have been condemned in any injustice. But ac- 
cording to the Word, because he hath been reviled alone for 

1 Copt. Can. 33a. 2 Copt. Can. 33b. 



214 THE CATHOLIC. 

the name of our Lord, and hath been punished with pun- 
ishment in a house, and hath confessed, he is worthy of 
every sacerdotal office from them, they shall lay hands on 
him, and every one shall pray according to his ability. But 
if he is able to pray suitably, and the prayer acceptable, it 
is good. But if, when he again prayeth, he sendeth forth a 
prayer in (a certain) measure, no one forbidding him, let him 
only pray entirely in a right faith. 1 

VI. How a Reader is to be appointed. 

The reader shall be appointed. The bishop shall give 
him the book of the apostles, and shall pray over him, but 
he shall not lay his hand upon him. 2 

VII. How Widows are to be appointed. 

But when a widow is appointed, she shall not be ordained, 
but she shall be chosen by name ; and if her husband hath 
been dead for a long time, let her be appointed. But if she 
hath not delayed from the death of her husband, believe her 
not. But if she hath become old, let her be proved for a 
time ; for often even the passion long surviveth, and will 
have place in them. 

Let a widow be appointed by word only. She shall be 
united with the rest. They shall not lay hands on her, be- 
cause she shall not put on the eucharist, neither shall she 
perform public service. But imposition of hands shall be 
with the clergy for the ministry. But the widow is appointed 
for prayer, and that is of all. 3 

i Copt. Can. 34. 2 Ibid. 35. 8 Ibid. 37. 



APPENDIX. 215 

VIII. How Virgins are to be appointed. 

There shall be no imposition of hands on a virgin ; for it 
is her choice alone that maketh her a virgin. 1 

IX. What is to be done with him who hath the gifts of 



If one shall say, " I have received the gifts of healing by 
a revelation," they shall not lay hands on him ; for the thing 
itself will be manifest if he speak truth. 2 



C. 

THE THIED SET OF ORDINANCES OF THE CHUECH OF 
ALEXANDRIA EESPECTING THE CLEEGY. 3 



I. How a Bishop is to be elected, proved, and ordained. 

It is necessary that a bishop should be ordained ; first 
being chosen, being a holy person, approved in all things, 
chosen by all the people ; and when he hath been named 
and approved, let all the people, and the presbyters, and the 
honored bishops assemble together on the Lord's day, and 
let the principal among them ask the presbyters and all the 
people : " Is this the man whom ye desire for a ruler ? " 
And if they shall say, " Yes, this is he in truth," let him ask 
them again : " Do ye all bear witness to him, that he is 
worthy of this great, honorable, and holy, authority ? and 

i Copt. Can. 38. 2 Ibid. 39. s Coptic Collection, Book IV. 



216 THE CATHOLIC. 

whether he hath been pure in the piety which he hath 
towards God ? And whether he observeth justice towards 
all men ? And whether he governeth his own house well ? 
And whether his whole life hath been blameless, and he 
hath not been apprehended in any thing, neither those of 
his house ? " 

And if they altogether have witnessed that he is such an 
one according to the truth, and not according to favor, God 
the Father, and his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our 
Lord, and the Holy Spirit being judge that these things are 
so ; let them be asked the third time, if he be worthy of 
this great service, of sacrifice, " That out of the mouth of two 
or three witnesses every word may be established : and if 
they shall say the third time that he is worthy, let their votes 
be received from them all ; and when they have given these 
cheerfully, let them be silent and quiet. And one of the 
principal bishops shall take with him two other bishops, 
all the bishops standing near the altar, praying in silence 
with the presbyters ; all the deacons also holding the Holy 
Gospels spread open upon the head of him who is to be 
ordained, the bishop praying to God over him. And when 
he hath finished praying over him, let one of the bishops 
place the oblation upon the hands of him who is ordained, 
and let the bishops place him upon the throne which be- 
cometh him. 1 



II. How the Bishop is to ordain a Presbyter or Deacon. 

When thou, O bishop, ordainest a presbyter, lay thy hand 
upon his head, all the presbyters standing, and the deacons 
praying, ordaining him. Thou shalt also ordain the deacon 
according to this first ordination. 2 

1 Copt. Can. 65. 2 Ibid. 67*. 



APP ENDIX. 217 



III. How he is to appoint Subdeacons, and Readers, and 
Deaconesses. 

And concerning the subdeacons, and readers, and dea^ 
conesses, it is not necessary to ordain them. 1 



IV. Tliat a Confessor needeth no Ordination, unless made a 
Bishop. 

Ordain not the confessor, for this thing is of his choice 
and patience ; for he is worthy of a great honor, as he who 
hath confessed the name of God and his Son, before kings 
and nations. But if there shall be occasion that he should 
be made a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, let him be 
ordained. 2 

V. Against arrogant and presumptuous Confessors. 

If a confessor, who hath not been ordained, hath seized 
for himself the dignity, on account of the confession, let him 
be anathematized ; for he is not one since he hath denied the 
command of Christ, and " hath become worse than an infi- 
del." 3 

VI. Virgins not to be ordained. 

Let not a virgin be ordained, for we have no command 
from the Lord. For this struggle is her choice, and is not 
for the reproach of marriage, but for the leisure of serving 
God. 4 

VII. Precautions in the appointment of Widows. 

A widow shall not be ordained ; but if it is a great dis- 
tance of time since her husband died, and she has lived pru- 
dently, and they have not found any fault against her, and she 

i Can. 67^. 2 ibid. 68a. s Ibid- 68b . - 4 j^ 69> 

19 



218 THE CATHOLIC* 

has taken care of those of her house well, as Judith and An- 
na, women of purity, let her be appointed to the order of 
widows. But if she hath not waited from the death of her 
husband, believe her not, but let her be proved by the time. 
For the evil passion remaineth in old persons, with those 
who will permit it a place in themselves, if it be not restrained 
with a sharp bridle. 1 

VIII. Precautions as to Persons who have the Gift of healing 

the Possessed. 
Exorcists shall not be ordained, for the design is of the 
choice of the will, and of the grace of God, and Christ Je- 
sus. When the Holy Spirit is manifested in the man, he 
will receive the gift of healing ; it is made manifest by the 
revelation of God, by the grace of God which is in him, giv- 
ing light to all men. But if there be a necessity that he 
should be a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, let him be or- 
dained. 2 

IX. Additional Ordinance as to the case of a Bishop having 

been ordained by one Bishop only. 

It is necessary that a bishop should be ordained by three, 
or two, bishops ; but if one bishop hath ordained him, let 
him be anathematized. But if a necessity hath happened to 
any one that he should be ordained by one only, because they 
are not able to gather together on account of the persecu- 
tion which is without, or on account of any other such like 
cause, let the permission from many other holy bishops be 
received for doing this, which is requisite for him. 8 

X. General Definitions of the pecidiar Right and Power of 

the different Members of the Clergy. 
The bishop blesseth, but is not blessed. He ordaineth, 
layeth on hands upon men, putteth on the oblation, receiveth 

1 Can. 70. 2 Ibid. 71. 3 Ibid. 72. 



APPENDIX. 219 

the blessing from the bishops, but not from the presbyters. 
The bishop anathematizeth (excludeth) every clergyman 
who deserveth to be anathematized (excluded) ; but to 
another bishop he is without power to do this alone. 

A presbyter also blesseth and receiveth the blessing from 
his fellow-presbyter and from the bishop ; and he likewise 
giveth it to his fellow-presbyter. He layeth his hands on men, 
but he doth not ordain, neither doth he anathematize. He 
putteth out those who are under him ; and if there are any 
deserving of punishment, let him give it them. 

A deacon doth not bless, neither doth he give the blessing, 
but he receiveth it from the bishop and the presbyter. He 
doth not baptize, neither doth he put on the eucharist. But 
when the bishop and the presbyter have set on the eucha- 
rist, the deacon giveth the cup, not as a priest, but as one 
who minister eth to the priests. There is no power in any 
other of the clergy to do the work of a deacon. 

And a deaconess doth not bless, neither doth she do any 
of those things which the presbyters and the deacons do, but 
she keepeth the doors only, and ministereth to the presbyters 
at the time of the baptism of women, because this is becom- 
ing. 

A deacon can put out the subdeacon, and the readers, and 
the singer, and the deaconesses, if occasion leads him, no 
presbyter indeed being there. A subdeacon has no power 
to put out a reader, or a singer, or a deaconess, or a lay per- 
son, for he is a minister to the deacons. 1 

1 Can. 73. 



220 THE CATHOLIC. 



BOOK III. 

A. 

THE LITURGY, OR THE GENERAL ORDER OF THE SERVICE. 



FIRST PART. 

Preparatory Service, or Service of the Catechumens. 
Accessible also to the hearers, who are learning the word, but have not yet 
taken the sacred pledge, and therefore do not belong to the communion 
of the believers. 

A Psalm of the Old or (New ?) Testament sung in the antiphonic 

manner of the Hebrew poetry, according to hemistichs. 
Or also an act of humiliation and confession. 
The doxology, or the praise, at the end of a Psalm : 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, 

for ever and ever. Amen. 

Or, 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, with the Holy Ghost, 

for ever and ever. Amen, 

Or, 

Glory be to the Father in (or through) the So?i, and through 

the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen. 

A Canticle of the Old Testament. 

Or a Christian hymn or sacred song. 

Lesson from the Old Testament. 

Lesson from the New Testament. 

Homily, or explanation of Scripture, especially of the Gospel, and 

exhortations to Christian faith and life. 
Dismissal of the catechumens or hearers, with blessing. 



APPENDIX. 221 



SECOND PART. 

The Service of the Believers, or Service of Thanksgiving {Eucharist). 
The Oblation, or placing of bread and wine (and first-fruits) on the 

communion table. 
Generally a word of admonition premised, as : 

No profane ! 
Wisdom ! 
The mutual salutation of bishop (or presbyters) and people : 

The Lord be with you : 
And with thy Spirit. 

The Preface, or introduction to the thanksgiving for the gifts of God 
and for Christ's redemption : 

Lift up your hearts : 

We lift them up unto the Lord. 

Let us give thanks unto the Lord : 

It is meet and right so to do. 

The Prayer of Tlianksgiving : either only 

The Lord's Prayer, 

to which, for that purpose, the following doxology or conclud- 
ing praise was added, with the usual response : 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, 
for ever and ever. 

[Or, 

For thine is the power, for ever and ever.] 
Amen. 

Or, besides, a free prayer of the bishop, or elder, praising God's 
benefits from the creation of the world, and asking his blessing for 
the communicants. 

(The words of the institution formed no necessary part of this 
prayer of consecration, but may have been historically recited.) 

L The communion of all the believers present, taken both in the 
bread and in the cup. 
Antiphonic verses used before the communion, according to the custom of the 
church. 
The Cherubic Hymn, or Trisagion, from Isaiah : 

19* 



222 THE CATHOLIC. 

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord the God of Sabaoth. 
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. 

After this verse, or perhaps originally instead of it, was sung : 
The hymn of thanksgiving, or the morning hymn. 
(See the text at the head of the hymns.) 

Other antiphonic verses used before the communion : 
Hosanna to the Son of David : 

Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord. 

Or, 
God is the Lord : 

Who was made manifest to us in the flesh. 
Or, exhortations and admonitions to the congregation : 
He who is holy, let him draw near. 

If he is not, let him become so through penitence. 
Or, 
This is Maranatha ! (the Lord cometh !) 

After the communion. 
Prayer of thanksgiving, for the benefit and grace received, (sometimes 

the Lord's Prayer with doxology used at this place.) 
The dismissal of the congregation with the blessing. 



B. 

THE RECORDED EARLY HYMNS AND FORMS OF THANKS- 
GIVING. 



I. The Hymn of Thanksgiving, or the Morning Hymn of the 
early Church. 

1. According to the Alexandrian Manuscript of the Bible : also called 
Hymnus Angelicus. 

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will 
among men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship 



APPENDIX. 223 



Thee : we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory ; Lord, 
heavenly king, God the Father almighty ! O Lord, the 
only begotten Son, Jesus Christ ; and the Holy Ghost, O 
Lord God ! O Lamb of God ! Son of the Father, that 
takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. 
Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy 
upon us, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right 
hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou 
only art holy : Thou only the Lord, Jesus Christ, to the 
glory of God the Father. Amen. 

'. The same reduced to its primitive form* 

Glory be to God on high : 

And on earth peace, good-will among men. 
[Or perhaps more primitively : 
And on earth peace among the men of good-will.^ 

We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, 

We give thanks to Thee for thy great glory. 
O Lord, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty : 

Lord God! 

O Lord, the only begotten Son : 

Jesus Christ! 
That takest away the sins of the world : 

Have mercy upon us. 
Thou that takest away the sins of the world : 

Have mercy upon us, receive our prayer. 
Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father : 

Have mercy upon us. 

For Thou only art holy : 

Thou only art the Lord Jesus Christ : 
To the glory of God the Father. Amen. 



224 THE CATHOLIC. 



II. The Morning Psalm (Ps. xiii.), or the following morning 

verse between Psalm verses : 

Every day will I bless Thee : 

And I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. 
Blessed art Thou, Lord God of our Fathers : 

And Thy name be praised and glorified for ever and ever. 
Amen. 

III. The Evening Psalm (Ps. xli.), or the Song of Simeon, 

or the following Psalm composed of Psalm Verses. 
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes. 
Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 
I said, Lord, be merciful unto me : 

Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. 
Lord, I flee unto thee to hide mc. 
Teach me to do Thy will : 

For Thou art my God. 
For with Thee is the fountain of life : 

In Thy light shall we see light. 
O continue thy loving-kindness unto them that know Thee. 

IV. The Evening Hymn of the Greek Christians. 
Serene light of holy glory, 

Of the Father everlasting, Jesus Christ ! 
Having come to the setting of the sun, 
And seeing the evening light, 
We praise the Father and the Son 
And the Holy Spirit of God. 
It behooveth to praise Thee 
At all time with holy songs, 
Sons of God who hast given life, 
Therefore the world glorifieth Thee. 



APPENDIX. 225 



V. The Evening Hymn of the Apostolic Constitutions. 

Praise, ye servants, the Lord : 
Praise the name of the Lord. 

We praise Thee, we sing unto Th.ee, we bless Thee : 

On account of Thy great glory. 
O Lord the King, Father of Christ : 

Of the spotless Lamb, which taketh away the sins of the 
world. 
It behooveth to praise Thee : 

It behooveth to sing unto Thee. 
It behooveth to glorify Thee, God and Father : 

Through the Son, in the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. 
Amen. 



APPENDIX FROM THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THF GREEK CON- 
STITUTIONS. 



LITURGICAL FORMULARIES. 

I. A Form of Prayer of Thanksgiving before the Communion. 

We thank Thee, our Father, for that life which Thou hast 
made known to us by Jesus thy Son, by whom Thou madest 
all things, and takest care of the whole world ; whom Thou 
hast sent to become man for our salvation ; whom Thou hast 
permitted to suffer and to die ; whom Thou hast raised up, 
and been pleased to glorify, and hast set down on Thy right 
hand : by whom Thou hast promised us the resurrection of 
the dead. Do Thou, O Lord Almighty, everlasting God, so 
gather together Thy church from the ends of the earth into 



226 THE CATHOLIC. 

thy kingdom, as this (corn) was once scattered, and is now 
become one loaf. We also, our Father, thank thee for the 
precious blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for us, and 
for his precious body, whereof we celebrate this representa- 
tion, as himself appointed us, to show forth his death. For, 
through Him, glory is to be given to Thee for ever. Amen. 

II. A Form of Thanksgiving after the Communion. 

We thank Thee, O God and Father of Jesus our Saviour, 
for Thy holy name, which Thou hast made to inhabit among 
us ; and that knowledge, faith, love, and immortality, which 
Thou hast given us through Thy Son Jesus. Thou, O Al- 
mighty Lord, the God of the universe, hast created the world, 
and the things that are therein by Him ; and hast planted a 
law in our souls, and beforehand didst prepare things for the 
convenience of men. O God of our holy and blameless fa- 
thers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, Thy faithful servants ; 
Thou, O God, who art powerful, faithful, and true, and with- 
out deceit in Thy promises ; who didst send upon earth 
Jesus Thy Christ to converse with men, as a man, when he 
was God, the Word, and man, to take away error by the 
roots ; do thou, even now, through Him, be mindful of this 
Thy holy church, which Thou hast purchased with the pre- 
cious blood of Thy Christ, and deliver it from all evil, and 
perfect it in Thy love and Thy truth, and gather us all to- 
gether into Thy kingdom which Thou hast prepared. Amen. 



POWER CLAIMED FOR THE POPE BY THE ROM- 
ISH HIERARCHY. 1 

"It is notorious, that many canonists (if not most) and 
many divines of that party do maintain this doctrine ; affirm- 
ing, that all the power of Christ (the Lord of lords, and 
King of kings, to whom all power in heaven and earth doth 
appertain') is imparted to the pope, as to his vicegerent. 2 

" This is the doctrine which almost four hundred years ago 
Augustinus Triumphus, in his 8 egregious work concerning 
ecclesiastical power, did teach ; attributing to the pope an 
incomprehensible and infinite power ; because great is the 
Lord, and great is his power, and of his greatness there is 
no end. 

" This is the doctrine which the leading theologue of their 
sect, their angelical doctor, doth affirm, both directly, saying, 
that 4 in the pope is the top of both powers ; and by plain 
consequence, asserting, that when any one is denounced ex- 
communicate for apostasy, his subjects are immediately 
freed from his dominion, and their oath of allegiance to 
him. 

" This the same Thomas (or an author passing under his 
name, in his book touching the rule of princes) doth teach, 
affirming that the pope, 5 as supreme king of all the world, 
may impose taxes on all Christians, and destroy towns and 
castles for the preservation of Christianity. 

1 Extract from Barrow's works on the Pope's Supremacy, Vol. VII. 
p. 5 to 17. 
a Bell. V. I. 
* Bell, de Script, an. 1301. 

4 Thomas in fine Secun. Sentent. dicit in papa esse apicem utrius- 
que potestatis. Bell. V. I. 

5 S. Thomas (in lib. iii. de Regim. Princ. cap. 10, 19.) Bell. V. 5. 

(227) 



228 THE CATHOLIC. 

" This (as cardinal Zabarell near three hundred years ago 
telleth us)- is the doctrine x which, for a long time, those who 
would please popes did persuade them, that they could do 
all things, whatever they pleased ; yea, and things unlawful ; 
and so could do more than God. 

" According to this doctrine then current at Rome, in the 
last Lateran great synod, under the pope's nose and in his 
ear, one bishop styled him, 2 prince of the world ; another 
orator called him, 3 king of kings, and monarch of the earth ; 
another great prelate said of him, that 4 he had all power 
above all powers both of heaven and earth. And the same 
roused up Pope Leo X. in these brave terms : 5 " Snatch up 
therefore the twoedged sword of divine power, committed 
to thee ; and enjoin, command, and charge, that an univer- 
sal peace and alliance be made among Christians for at 
least ten years ; and to that bind kings in the fetters of the 
great King, and constrain nobles by the iron manacles of 
censures ; for to thee is given all power in heaven and in 
earth." 

This is the doctrine which Baronius, with a Roman con- 
fidence, doth so often assert and drive forward, saying, that 6 
there can be no doubt of it, but that the civil principality 
is subject to the sacerdotal : and, that 7 God hath made the 
political government subject to the dominion of the spiritual 
church. 

§ III. From that doctrine the opinion in effect doth not 
differ, which Bellarmine voucheth for the common opinion 
of catholics, that 8 by reason of the spiritual power, the 

1 Zab. de Schism. 

2 Episc. Spal. sess. i. p. 24. 

3 Del. Rio, sess. viii. p. 87. 

4 Episc. Patrac. sess. x. p. 132. • 

5 Ibid. p. 133. 

6 Politicum principatum sacerdotali esse subjectum nulla potest esse 
dubitatio. Ann. 57, § 23. 

» Ibid. § 53. 
8 Bell. V. I. 



APPENDIX. 229 

pope, at least indirectly, hath a supreme power even in 
temporal matters. 

This opinion, so common, doth not, I say, in effect and 
practical consideration, anywise differ from the former ; but 
only in words devised to shun envy, and veil the impudence 
of the other assertion : for the qualifications, by reason of 
the spiritual power, and at least indirectly, are but notional, 
insignificant, and illusive, in regard to practice : it import- 
ing not, if he hath in his keeping a sovereign power, upon 
what account, or in what formality he doth employ it ; see- 
ing that every matter is easily referable to a spiritual ac- 
count ; seeing he is sole judge upon what account he doth 
act ; seeing experience showeth that he will spiritualize all 
his interests, and upon any occasion exercise that pretended 
authority 5 seeing it little mattereth, if he may strike 
princes, whether he doth it by a downright blow, or slantingly. 

§ IV. That such an universal and absolute power hath 
been claimed by divers popes, successively for many ages, is 
apparent from their most solemn declarations and notorious 
practices; whereof (beginning from later times, and rising 
upwards toward the source of this doctrine) we shall repre- 
sent some. 

The bull of Pope Sixtus V. against the two sons of wrath, 
Henry, king of Navarre, and the prince of Conde, beginneth 
thus : " The authority given to St. Peter and his successors, 
by the immense power of the eternal King, excels all the 
powers of earthly kings and princes — it passes uncontrolla- 
ble sentence upon them all — and if it find any of them 
resisting God's ordinance, it takes more severe vengeance of 
them, casting them down from their thrones, though never so 
puissant, and tumbling them down to the lowest parts of the 
earth, as the ministers of aspiring Lucifer." And then he 
proceeds to thunder against them, " We deprive them and 
their posterity for ever of their dominions and kingdoms ; " 
and accordingly he depriveth those princes of their kingdoms 

20 



230 THE CATHOLIC. 

and dominions, absolveth their subjects from their oaths of 
allegiance, and forbiddeth them to pay any obedience to 
them. 1 " By the authority of these presents, we do absolve 
and set free all persons, as well jointly as severally, from 
any such oath, and from all duty whatsoever in regard of 
dominion, fealty, and obedience ; and do charge and forbid 
all and every of them, that they do not dare to obey them, or 
any of their admonitions, laws, and commands." 

Pope Pius V. (one of the holiest popes of the last stamp, 
who hardly hath escaped canonization until now) 2 beginneth 
his bull against our Queen Elizabeth in these words : 3 " He 
that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven 
and in earth, hath committed the one holy catholic and apos- 
tolic church, out of which there is no salvation, to one alone 
on earth, namely, to Peter, prince of the apostles, and to the 
Roman pontiff, successor of Peter, to be governed with a 
plenitude of power : this one he hath constituted prince over 
all nations and all kingdoms, that he might pluck up, destroy, 
dissipate, ruinate, plant, and build." And in the same bull 
he declares, that " he thereby deprives the queen of her pre- 
tended right to the kingdom, and of all dominion, dignity, 
and privilege whatsoever; and absolves all the nobles, 
subjects, and people of the kingdom, and whoever else have 
sworn to her, from their oath, and all duty whatsoever, in re- 
gard of dominion, fidelity, and obedience." 

Pope Clement VI. did pretend to depose the emperor 
Lewis IV. 

Pope Clement V. in the great synod of Vienna, declared 
the emperor subject to him, or standing obliged to him by a 
proper oath of fealty. 4 

Pope Boniface VIII. hath a decree extant in the canon 

1 Bulla Sixti V. contra Henr. Navarr. R. etc. 

2 Briet. Chr. anno 1572. 

3 P. Pius V. in Bull, contra R. Eliz. (Carab. Hist, anno 1570.) 

4 Clem. lib. ii. tit. 9. Vide Cone. Vienn. p. 909. 



APPENDIX. 231 

law running thus : * " We declare, say, define, pronounce it 
to be of necessity to salvation, for every human creature to 
be subject to the Roman pontiff." The which subjection, 
according to his intent, reacheth all matters ; for he there 
challengeth a double sword, and asserteth to himself jurisdic- 
tion over all temporal authorities : for 2 " One sword," saith 
he, " must be under another, and the temporal authority must 
be subject to the spiritual power ; — whence, if the earthly 
power doth go astray, it must be judged by the spiritual 
power." The which aphorisms he proveth by Scriptures ad- 
mirably expounded to that purpose. 

This definition might pass for a rant of that boisterous 
pope, 3 (a man above measure ambitious and arrogant,) 
vented in his passion against King Philip of France, if it 
had not the advantage (of a greater than which no papal 
decree is capable) of being expressly confirmed by one of 
their general councils ; for 4 " We (saith Pope Leo X. in his 
bull read and passed in the Lateran council) do renew and 
approve that holy constitution, with approbation of the present 
holy council." Accordingly Melch. Canus saith, 5 " that the 
Lateran council did renew and approve that extravagant 
(indeed extravagant) constitution : " and Baronius saith of it, 
" that 6 all do assent to it, so that none dissenteth, who doth 
not by discord fall from the church." 

The which authority was avowed by that great council 
under this pope, 7 (the which, according to the men of Trent, 
did represent or constitute the church,) wherein it was or- 
dained, that if a temporal lord, being required and admon- 
ished by the church, should neglect to purge his territory 

1 Extrav. com. lib. i. tit. 8, cap. I. 

2 Ibid. 

3 Binius in Yita Bonif. VIII. 

4 Concil. Lateran. sess. xi. p. 153. 

5 Canus, loc. vi. 4. 

6 Baron. Ann. 1053, § 14. 

7 Cone. Later, cap. 3, in Decret. Greg. lib. v. tit. 7, cap. 13. 



232 THE CATHOLIC. 

from heretical filth, he should by the metropolitan and the 
other comprovincial bishops be noosed in the band of ex- 
communication ; and that if he should slight to make satis- 
faction within a year, it should be signified to the pope, that 
he might from that time denounce the subjects absolved 
from their fealty to him, and expose the territory to be seized 
on by catholics, etc. 

Before that, Pope Paschal II. deprived Henry IV. and 
excited enemies to persecute him ; 1 telling them, that they 
could not offer a more acceptable sacrifice to God, than by 
impugning him, who endeavored to take the kingdom from 
God's church. 

Before him, Pope Urban II. (called Turban by some in 
his age) did preach this doctrine, recommended to us in the 
decrees, that 2 subjects are by no authority constrained to 
pay the fidelity which they have sworn to a Christian prince, 
who opposeth God and his saints, or violateth their precepts. 
An instance wmereof we have in his granting a privilege to 
the canons of Tours ; 3 which, saith he, " if any emperor, 
king, prince, etc. shall wilfully attempt to thwart, let him 
be deprived of the dignity of his honor and power." 

But the great apostle (if not author) of this confounding 
doctrine was Pope Gregory VII. (a man of a bold spirit 
and fiery temper, inured even before his entry on that see 
to bear sway, and drive on daring projects ; possessed with 
resolution to use the advantages of his place and time in 
pushing forward the papal interest to the utmost,) who did 
lift up his voice like a trumpet, kindling wars and seditions 
thereby over Christendom. His dictates and practices are 
well known, being iterated in his own epistles, and in the 
Roman councils under him, extant : yet it may be worth the 
while to hear him swagger in his own language. 

1 P. Pasch. Ep. vii. ad Rob. Fland. Com. 

2 Cans. xv. qu. 7, cap. 5. 
8 P. Urb.ILEp. 12. 



APPENDIX. 233 

" For the dignity and defence of God's holy church, in 
the name of Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, I depose from imperial and royal administration, 
king Henry, son of Henry sometime emperor, who too 
boldly and rashly hath laid hands on thy church ; and I ab- 
solve all Christians subject to the empire from that oath 
whereby they were wont to plight their faith unto true 
kings : for it is right that he should be deprived of dignity, 
who doth endeavor to diminish the majesty of the church." l 



OATH OF ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS, 

AS PUBLISHED IX THE EOMAX PONTIFICAL, PREPARED BY ORDER OP 
POPE CLEMENT VII. SANCTIONED ALSO BY COUNCIL OF TRENT. 2 

" I — , elect of the church of — , from henceforward will 
be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the apostle, and to the 
holy Roman church, and to our. lord, the lord — pope — 
and to his successors, canonically coming in. I will neither 
advise, consent, or do any thing that they may lose life or 
member, or that their persons may be seized, or hands any- 
wise laid upon them, or any injuries offered to them, under 
any pretence whatsoever. The counsel which they shall 
intrust me withal, by themselves, their messengers, or letters, 
I will not knowingly reveal to any to their prejudice. I 
will help them to defend and keep the Roman papacy, and 
the royalties of St. Peter, saving my order, against all men. 
The legate of the apostolic see, going and coming, I will 

1 Plat, in Greg. VII. et torn. 7, Cone. Rom. iii. apud Bin. p. 484. 

2 For this see Barrow's works, Vol. VII. p. 46, Ponti. Rom. Ant- 
werp, a. d. 1626, p. 59, 86, and Cons. Trid. sess. xxiv. Chap. XIL, 
which provided that every beneficed clergyman should vow and swear 
to abide in obedience to the Roman church. 

20* 



234 THE CATHOLIC. 

honorably treat and help in his necessities. The rights, 
honors, privileges, and authority of the holy Roman church, 
of our lord the pope, and his foresaid successors, I will en- 
deavor to preserve, defend, increase, and advance. I will 
not be in any counsel, action, or treaty, in which shall be 
plotted against our said lord, and the said Roman church, 
any thing to the hurt or prejudice of their persons, right, 
honor, state, or power ; and if I shall know any such thing 
to be treated or agitated by any whatsoever, I will hinder it 
to my power ; and as soon as I can will signify it to our 
said lord, or to some other, by whom it may come to his 
knowledge. The rules of the holy fathers, the apostolic 
decrees, ordinances, or disposals, reservations, provisions, 
and mandates, I will observe with all my might, and cause 
to be observed by others. Heretics, schismatics, and rebels 
to our said lord, or his foresaid successors, I will to my power 
persecute and oppose. I will come to a council when I am 
called, unless I be hindered by a canonical impediment. I 
will by myself in person visit the threshold of the apostles 
every three years ; and give an account to our lord and his 
foresaid successors of all my pastoral office, and of all 
things anywise belonging to the state of my church, to the 
discipline of my clergy and people, and lastly to the salva- 
tion of souls committed to my trust ; and will in like man- 
ner humbly receive and diligently execute the apostolic 
commands. And if I be detained by a lawful impediment, 
I will perform all the things aforesaid by a certain messen- 
ger hereto specially empowered, a member of my chapter, 
or some other in ecclesiastical dignity, or else having a par- 
sonage ; or in default of these, by a priest of the diocese ; 
or. in default of one of the clergy, [of the diocese,] by some 
other secular or regular priest of approved integrity and 
religion, fully instructed in all things above mentioned. 
And such impediment I will make out by lawful proofs to 
be transmitted by the foresaid messenger to the cardinal 



APPENDIX. 235 

proponent of the holy Roman church in the congregation of 
the sacred council. The possessions belonging to my table 
I will neither sell, nor give away, nor mortgage, nor grant 
anew in fee, nor anywise alienate, no, not even with the 
consent of the chapter of my church, without consulting the 
Roman pontiff. And if I shall make any alienation, I will 
thereby incur the penalties contained in a certain constitu- 
tion put forth about this matter. So help me God and these 
holy Gospels of God. 

Such, says Barrow, is the oath prescribed to bishops, the 
which is worth the most serious attention of all men, who 
would understand how miserably slavish the condition of 
the clergy is in that church, and how inconsistent their 
obligation to the pope is with their duty to their prince. 



EXTRACTS FBOM PASCAL. 1 



INTRODUCTION. 

" The name of Pascal (that prodigy of parts, as Locke 
calls him,") says Mr. Dugald Stewart, 2 " is more familiar 
to modern ears than that of any of the other learned and 
polished anchorites who have rendered the sanctuary of 
Port-Royal so illustrious. Abstracting from his great merit 
in mathematics and in physics, his reputation rests chiefly 
on the ' Provincial Letters ; ' a work from which Voltaire, 
notwithstanding his strong prejudices against the author, 
dates the fixation of the French language ; and of which 
the same excellent judge has said, 'Moliere's best come- 
dies DO NOT EXCEL THEM IN WIT, NOR THE COMPOSITIONS 
OF BOSSUET IN SUBLIMITY.' " 

" A considerable portion of the merit of this performance, 
consists in the ingenious manner in which Pascal has brought 
together the extravagant maxims of the principal Jesuitical 
writers, so as to make them appear truly ridiculous. He 
does not, as Voltaire, (who, otherwise, bestows upon him 
great praise,) insinuates, collect his citations from a few in- 
dividuals, whose sentiments are unwarrantably adduced as 
a fair specimen of the principles of the whole society, for 
he uniformly appeals to the very best of their writers, 
and particularly to the twenty-four elders who were so des- 

1 The bishop of Lucon, son of the celebrated Bussy, told me, that 
asking one day the bishop of Meaux what work he would covet most 
to be the author of supposing his own performances set aside, Bos- 
suet replied, The Provincial Letters. Examples of all the species of 
eloquence abound in them.— Voltaire. 

2 Supplement to Encyc. Brit. Vol. I. p. 1. 

(236) 



APPENDIX. 237 

ignated on account of the entire confidence which the whole 
body of the Jesuits reposed in their statements. In fact, 
Pascal adopted no other than the usual and authorized 
method of obtaining the real opinions of any extensive so- 
ciety. If their own publications — the publications of their 
most eminent men ; be not the proper standard of appeal, 
by what other means can their opinions be obtained ? Be- 
sides, none of their writings were issued without the sanction 
of the superiors of their order." 



PROVINCIAL LETTERS. — LETTER XV. 

THE JESUITS OMIT CALUMNY IN THEIR CATALOGUE OP CRIMES, AND 
MAKE NO SCRUPLE OP USING IT AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES. 

November 25, 1656. 

Reverend Fathers : — As your impostures are daily 
increasing, and you make use of them to scandalize in so 
cruel a manner all persons of piety who oppose your errors, 
I feel myself obliged, on their account, and for the service 
of the church, to expose a part of your mysterious conduct, 
which I promised to do some time since, that it may be fully 
known, from your own maxims, what reliance may be placed 
upon your accusations and injurious conduct. 

I am well aware, that persons who are not sufficiently ac- 
quainted with you, feel it extremely difficult to come to any 
decision upon this subject, because they are necessitated 
either to believe those incredible crimes of which you accuse 
your enemies, or to deem you impostors, which would seem 
equally incredible. If these things were untrue, say they, 
would a religious society publish them — thus resisting the 
dictates of conscience, and giving themselves up by such atro- 
cious calumnies to damnation ? In this manner they reason ; 
so that obvious and striking as are the proofs by which your 



238 THE CATHOLIC. 

falsities are exposed, yet being so diametrically opposed to 
the opinion they cherish of your sincerity, they are held in 
suspense between the evidence of the truth, which they can- 
not deny, and the duty of charity which they are apprehensive 
of violating. As, therefore, the only hindrance to their rejec- 
tion of your scandal, is their respect for your character, if they 
should find that you really do not entertain that bad opinion 
of calumny, for which they give you credit, but think it to be 
no impediment to your salvation, no doubt the force of truth 
will immediately determine them to disbelieve your impo- 
sitions. You see, fathers, the subject of the present letter. 

It is my purpose to advance a step further than merely to 
show that your writings are replete with calumnious rep- 
resentations. Falsehoods may be stated under an impres- 
sion that they are truths, but lying is characterized by the 
intention to deceive. I shall show that you design to de- 
ceive and calumniate, and that you purposely impute 
crimes to your enemies, of which you know that they are 
perfectly innocent, because you believe it may be done 
without falling from a state of grace. And though you may 
be as well acquainted as myself with this point of your mo- 
rality, I shall beg permission to state it, that no further doubt 
may exist, by showing that I challenge you personally and 
individually on the subject, without even your being able to 
deny it, with all your assurance, unless at the same time 
you own that for which I reproached you. For this is a 
doctrine so common in your schools, that you have not 
only maintained it in your writings, but even in your 
public theses, which is an act of the utmost presumption ; 
as for example, in that of Louvain, in the year 1645, 
in the following words : " It is only a venial sin to calum- 
niate and ruin the credit of such as speak evil of yon, 
by accusing them of false crimes, — quidni non nisi ve- 
niale sit, detrahentis autoritatem magnam tibi noxiam falso 
crimine elidere ? " This doctrine is so current amongst you, 



APPENDIX. 239 

that whoever dares to attack it, you treat as an ignoramus 
and a stupid fellow. 

Not long ago, this took place in regard to Father Quiroga, 
a German capuchin, who opposed this doctrine, and was im- 
mediately attacked by Father Dicastillus, who speaks of 
this dispute in these terms : 1 " A certain grave friar, bare- 
footed, and deep cowled, (cucullatus, gymnopoda,) whose 
name I shall conceal, had the temerity to decry this opinion 
amongst some women and ignorant people, as pernicious 
and scandalous, contrary to good-manners, and subversive of 
the peace of states and societies, and opposed not only to all 
the catholic doctors, but to all who may become so. But I 
have maintained against him, and still maintain, that calum- 
ny, when made use of against a calumniator, though it be a lie, 
yet is not a mortal sin, nor contrary to justice or charity ; 
and, as a demonstration of this, I furnished him with a crowd 
of our fathers, and whole universities whom I consulted ; 
among others, the reverend father John Gans, confessor to 
the emperor ; the reverend father Daniel Bastele, confessor 
to the Archduke Leopold ; Father Henry, who was the tutor 
of these two princes ; all the public and ordinary professors 
of the University of Vienna (consisting entirely of Jesuits) ; 
all the professors of the University of Gratz (all Jesuits) ; 
all the professors of the University of Prague (of which the 
Jesuits are masters) ; from all of whom, I have in my pos- 
session, a written, signed, and sealed approbation of my 
opinion ; in addition to which, I have Father Pennalossa, a 
Jesuit, jfteacher to the emperor and the king of Spain; 
Father Pilliceroli, a Jesuit, and many others, who have all 
judged this opinion probable, previous to our dispute." You 
see, fathers, there are few opinions which you have taken so 
much pains to establish ; and, in fact, there are few which are 
so serviceable to you. For this reason, you have impressed 
so much authority upon it, that your casuists have made use 

1 De Just. 1. II., Tr. 2, Disp. 12, n. 404. 



240 THE CATHOLIC. 

of it as an indubitable principle. " It is certain," says Cara- 
muel, n. 1151, " it is a probable opinion, that it is no mortal 
sin to bring a false accusation for the sake of preserving 
one's honor : for it is maintained by upwards of twenty 
grave doctors, Gaspar, Hurtado, Dicastillus, etc* Hence, if 
this doctrine be not probable, there is scarcely any one that 
is so in the whole system of divinity/' 

O, what an execrable system is this, and how utterly cor- 
rupt in all its main points and principles, — that if this doc- 
trine be not probable and safe in conscience, " that a person 
may be accused falsely in order to preserve one's honor," there 
is scarcely any one that is ! What can be more probable, 
fathers, than that those who hold this principle should some- 
times put it in practice ? The depraved passions of man- 
kind hurry them on with such impetuosity, that it is incon- 
ceivable, when all conscientious scruples are done away, how 
violently they proceed. For instance, Caramuel writes, in 
the same place, " This maxim of Father Dicastillus, the 
Jesuit, respecting calumny, was taught by a German count- 
ess to the daughter of the empress, who, believing that cal- 
umnies were but venial sins, spread abroad so many scan- 
dals and false reports every day, that the whole court was 
put into a state of ferment and alarm. It is easy to perceive 
the use they made of it ; so that, to quiet this tumult, it was 
found necessary to apply to a good father, a capuchin, nam- 
ed Quiroga, of exemplary conduct (which was the reason 
Father Dicastillus had such a quarrel with him,) who told 
them plainly that this maxim was very pernicidfis, espe- 
cially as held by women, and then took such especial care, 
that the empress totally abolished the practice of it." 

It is by no means surprising that this doctrine should have 
produced some bad effects ; it would have been more so had 
it been otherwise. Self-love is always ready to persuade 
us that an attack made upon ourselves is unjust; much 
more you, fathers, who are so blinded by vanity, that you 



APPENDIX. 241 

would make all the world believe, from your writings, that 
an injury attempted against your society, is an injury done 
to the honor of the church ; and thus it would be strange, if 
you were not to put this maxim in practice. "We must not 
say, as those who do not know you do, — how is it these 
good fathers calumniate their enemies, since it is endanger- 
ing their own salvation ? but we must say, on the contrary, 
— how is it that these good fathers would lose any oppor- 
tunity of decrying their enemies, when they can do it with- 
out risking their own safety ? Let us, then, no longer be 
astonished at finding the Jesuits calumniators: they are 
so with a safe conscience, and cannot be otherwise ; since, 
by the credit they have acquired in the § world, they may 
revile others without any apprehension from the justice of 
men, and by that which they have acquired in cases of con- 
science, they have established maxims, by which they are 
empowered to do as they choose, without dreading the jus- 
tice of God. 

Such, fathers, is the origin of so many base impostures. 
From this source, your father Brisacier drew, till he brought 
upon himself the censure of the archbishop of Paris. It 
was this which led your father d'Anjou, openly in the pulpit 
of the church of St. Benedict at Paris, on the eighth of 
March, 1655, to decry those persons of quality who received 
the subscriptions for the poor of Picardy and Champagne, 
to which they had so liberally contributed themselves ; and 
to declare (which was a horrible falsehood, and enough to 
have destroyed all charity, had your impostures obtained 
any kind of credit,) " that he knew for certain that these 
persons had misapplied this money, to employ it against the 
church and state ; which obliged the curate of the parish, a 
doctor of the Sorbonne, to preach next day, for the ex- 
press purpose of confuting these calumnious representations. 
Your father Crasset, upon the same principle, published from 
the pulpit so many impostures in Orleans, which rendered 
21 



242 THE CATHOLIC* 

it necessary for the bishop to interdict him as a public im- 
postor, by a mandate of the ninth of September last, in 
which he declares, " that he prohibits brother John Crasset, 
priest of the society of Jesus, from preaching in his diocese ; 
and all the people from hearing him, under pain of being 
guilty of a mortal disobedience; he having been apprised 
that the said Crasset had delivered a discourse from the 
pulpit, full of falsehoods and calumnies against the clergy 
of that city, falsely and maliciously charging them with main- 
taining such heretical propositions as these — that it is im- 
possible to keep the commandments of God — that internal 
grace is irresistible — and that Christ did not die for all 
men, with others of a similar nature, condemned by Innocent 
X." This, fathers, is your ordinary imposture, and the first 
with which you attack those whom you deem it important 
to decry. And though it be as impossible to prove your 
charges, as it is for father Crasset to substantiate his against 
the clergy of Orleans, your conscience is quite easy, " be- 
cause you believe that this mode of detraction is so certain- 
ly allowable," that you are not afraid to declare it openly in 
the face of a whole city. 

A remarkable instance of this occurred in your disagree- 
ment with M. Puys, a clergyman of St. Nisier, at Lyons ; 
and, as this affair furnishes a complete illustration of your 
spirit, I shall relate the principal circumstances. You know, 
fathers, that in 1649, Mr. Puys translated an excellent work, 
written by another capuchin, into French, " On the duty of 
Christians to their own parishes, against those who wished 
to entice them away," — without using any invectives, and 
without either pointing at any religious order or individual. 
Your fathers, however, took it to themselves, and paying no 
respect to an aged pastor, a judge in the primacy of France, 
and much honored by the whole city, your father Alby wrote 
a violent philippic against him, which you yourselves sold 
in your own church on Assumption-day ; in which, amongst 



APPENDIX. 243 

other charges, he was accused of " becoming scandalous by his 
gallantries, of being suspected of impiety, of being a heretic, 
an excommunicated person, and deserving to be burned 
alive." To this M. Puys replied ; but father Alby, in a 
second publication, persisted in his former criminations. Is 
it not then evident, fathers, either that you must be calum- 
niators, or that you believed all the charges brought against 
the good priest ; and therefore that it was needful that you 
should have seen him fully exculpated before you deemed 
him worthy of your friendship ? Attend now to what passed 
at the reconciliation, in presence of a great multitude of the 
most distinguished persons of the city, whose names are in- 
serted below, in the order in which they were placed in the 
paper drawn up on the 25th of September, 1650. 1 In the 
presence of this assembly, M. Puys made no other declara- 
tion than the following ; " that what he had written was not 
intended for the Jesuits — that he had spoken in general 
against those who seduce the faithful from their parishes, 
without at all meaning to attack their society, rfor which, on 
the contrary, he cherished a high regard." This is in itself 
sufficient, with regard to his apostasy, his revilings, and his 
excommunication, without any recantation or absolution. 
Father Alby afterwards addressed him in these words : 
" Sir, my conviction that you attacked the society to which 
I have the honor to belong, induced me to take up my pen 
to answer you, and I thought my manner of doing it was allow- 
able ; but having become better acquainted with your inten- 

1 M. de Ville, vicar-general of the Cardinal de Lyon ; Mr. Scarron, 
canon and minister of St. Paul's ; M. Margat, chanter ; Messrs. Bou- 
vaud, Seve, Aubert, and Dervieu, canons of St. Nisier ; M. du Gue, 
president of the treasurers of France ; M. Groslier, provost of the 
merchants ; M. de Flechere, president and lieutenant-general ; Messrs. 
de Boissat, de St. Romain, and de Bartoly, gentlemen ; M. Burgeois, 
king's chief advocate in the treasury-office of France ; Messrs. de 
Cotton, father and son ; M. Boniel ; who all signed the original dec- 
laration with M. Puys and Father Alby. 



244 THE CATHOLIC. 

tion, I now declare, that there exists nothing which can prevent 
my esteeming you as a person of a very enlightened under- 
standing, of a profound and orthodox faith, of irreproachable 
morals, and in one word, a worthy pastor of your church. 
This declaration I make with high satisfaction, and beg these 
gentlemen to remember it." 

In truth, fathers, these gentlemen remember it perfectly 
well, and were more offended at your reconciliation, than 
at your quarrel. For who does not admire father Alby's 
speech ? He does not say that he retracts on account of dis- 
covering M. Puys has changed his behaviour and his doc- 
trine, but merely " because he found that it was not his in- 
tention to attack your society, so that there is nothing to 
prevent him from being a good catholic." He did not, there- 
fore, believe him to be a heretic at all ; nevertheless, after 
accusing him of it, contrary to his own convictions, he does 
not acknowledge his error, but dares, on the contrary, to 
affirm, " that he believes the manner in which he used him 
was allowable" 



THE JESUITS AND THE JANSENISTS. 



The primary engagement of the society of Jesuits was, 
to defend the interests of the See of Borne ; indeed it was 
instituted for that very purpose. But its connection with 
France and the house of Bourbon had become so strong 
and intimate, that in ail the collisions which gradually arose 
between the interests of Rome and those of France it almost 
invariably took the side of the latter. The works of the 
Jesuits were sometimes condemned by the Inquisition at 
Rome, because they defended too vehemently the rights of 
the crown. The heads of the French Jesuits avoided all 
intercourse with the pope's nuncio, for fear of incurring the 
suspicion of ultramontane opinions. Nor in other respects 
had the See of Rome much reason to boast of the obedience 
of that order at the period in question ; in the missions es- 
pecially, the pope's decrees were almost always utterly dis- 
regarded. 

Another of the fundamental principles of the Jesuits was, 
the renunciation of all worldly ties, and entire devotion to 
their spiritual duties. The rule that every new member 
should renounce all he possessed on his admission, had for- 
merly been most strictly enforced. At first the execution 
of this rule was delayed for a time, and when fulfilled, it 
was only conditionally, because the member was always 
liable to expulsion ; at last the custom was introduced, that 
a member should make over his property to the society 

1 Extract from Ranke's History of the Popes, p. 198 to 209. 
21 * <245) 



246 THE CATHOLIC. 

itself, taking care, however, that it should always fall to the 
share of the particular college which he entered, so as fre- 
quently to keep the administration of it in his own hands, 
though under another title. It frequently happened that 
the members of the colleges had more leisure time than 
their relations, who were engaged in active life, and there- 
fore managed their affairs, received their money, and carried 
on their lawsuits. 

This mercantile spirit became predominant even in the 
colleges in their corporate character. They wished to secure 
to themselves the possession of wealth ; and as the large 
donations they formerly received had ceased, they sought to 
effect this by means of trade. The Jesuits recognized little 
distinction between the cultivation of the soil, which had 
been practised by the earliest monks, and those commercial 
pursuits to which they addicted themselves. The Collegio 
Romano had a manufactory of cloth at Macerata, at first 
merely for their own use, then for all the colleges in the 
province, and at last for general consumption. Their agents 
frequented the fairs. The intimate connection subsisting 
between the different colleges contributed to establish a sys- 
tem of money-changing ; thus the Portuguese minister at 
Rome was authorized to draw upon the Jesuits of his own 
country. In the colonies especially, their commercial specu- 
lations were highly successful ; and the vast web of their 
commercial relations, the centre of which was Lisbon, ex- 
tended over both continents. 

This was a spirit, which, when once called into activity, 
necessarily affected the whole internal character of the 
society. 

The Jesuits always formally adhered to the fundamental 
principle of giving gratuitous instruction. But they re- 
ceived presents on the entrance of any pupil, and at certain 
festivals — at least two in the course of the year ; they 
were chiefly anxious to have scholars from among the rich, 



APPENDIX. 247 

who naturally deriving from their wealth a certain feeling 
of independence, would no longer submit to the severity of 
the ancient discipline. A Jesuit who raised his stick against 
one of his pupils, received in return a stab with a poignard, 
and a young man in Gubbio who thought himself treated 
with too much severity by the father prefecto, killed him. 
In Rome itself the disturbances in the Collegio furnished 
constant matter of conversation to the city and the palace. 
On one occasion the tutors were kept locked up a whole 
day by their scholars ; and at length the rector was actually 
dismissed in compliance with their demands. These were 
among the symptoms of a univeral struggle between the 
ancient order of things and the new spirit ; a struggle in 
which the latter was finally victorious. The Jesuits could 
no longer exercise that influence over the minds of men 
which they had formerly possessed. 

But indeed it was no longer their aim to subjugate the 
world, or to imbue it w r ith the spirit of religion. On the 
contrary, the spirit which once animated them had fallen 
before the temptations and influences of the world, and 
their sole endeavor now was to make themselves necessary 
to mankind, let the means be what they might. 

To this end they not only accommodated the rules of their 
institute, but even the precepts of religion and morality. 
To the office of confession, which enabled them to exercise 
so immediate an influence on the most secret recesses of do- 
mestic life, they gave a direction which will be memorable 
to the end of time. 

Of this we possess authentic and undoubted proofs. In 
numerous elaborate works they have stated and expounded 
the rules which they observed at confession and absolution, 
and which they prescribed to others. These rules are es- 
sentially the same as those with which they have been so 
often reproached. Let us endeavor to understand the lead- 
ing principles, by pursuing which, they acquired such exten- 
sive power. 



248 THE CATHOLIC. 

In confession every thing must inevitably depend upon the 
conception formed of transgression and of sin. 

Sin they define to be a wilful departure from the com- 
mands of God. 

And in what, we may further inquire, consists this wilful- 
ness ? Their answer is, in perfect knowledge of the nature 
of the sin committed, and in the full consent of the will to 
its commission. 

They adopted this principle from the ambition of pro- 
pounding something entirely new, combined with the desire 
of accommodating themselves to the common practices of 
mankind. With scholastic subtlety, and with a compre- 
hensive view of the various cases falling within its scope, 
they carried out this principle to its most revolting conse- 
quences. 

According to their doctrine, it was enough not to will the 
commission of sin, as such ; the less the sinner thought of 
God, during the commission of his offence, and the more 
violent the passion which hurried him into its commission, 
the greater was the hope of pardon. Habit, or even bad 
example, which limit the freedom of the will, are sufficient 
exculpations. It is evident how infinitely the boundaries 
of transgression were thus narrowed ; since no man loves sin 
for itself. They also recognized other grounds of excuse. 
For example, duelling is strictly prohibited by the church ; 
nevertheless the Jesuits asserted, that if any man were in 
danger of being held a coward, or of losing an office or the 
favor of his prince, by refusing to fight a duel, he was not 
to be condemned for fighting. Perjury is in itself a deadly 
sin ; but, said the Jesuits, a man who only swears outwardly, 
without inwardly intending what he swears, is not bound by 
his oath ; for he does not swear, he jests. 

These doctrines are to be found in works which expressly 
describe themselves as moderate. Who would wish now, as 
those times have gone by, to trace further the tortuous 



APPENDIX. 249 

aberrations of a subtlety destructive of all morality : or to 
explore the records of perverted acuteness in which these 
teachers have labored with all the ardor of literary rivalry 
to outdo each other ? But it cannot be denied that the most 
repulsive maxims of individual doctors, are rendered most 
dangerous by another principle maintained by the Jesuits, 
namely, by their doctrine of probability. They maintained 
that it was permitted in doubtful cases to follow an opinion, 
of the justice of which the individual himself was not con- 
vinced — supposing always that it was defended by any 
author of credit; they held it not only allowable to be 
directed by the most indulgent teachers, they even recom- 
mended it. Scruples of conscience were to be disregarded 
and contemned ; indeed the true way to free the mind from 
them, was to follow the most tolerant opinions, even if they 
were less safe. The secret operations of that awful tribunal 
which is established in the inmost depths of the heart of 
man, were thus changed into mere outward acts. A slight 
turn of the thoughts was held to exonerate from all guilt. 
In the manuals written by the Jesuits for the guidance of 
their novices, all the possible accidents of life are treated 
much in the same spirit as in the systems of civil law, and 
judged according to the gradations of their veniality; it 
was only necessary to refer to these books and follow the 
directions therein contained, without any individual convic- 
tion, to obtain the certainty of absolution from God and the 
church. 

With a singular kind of simplicity the Jesuits themselves 
were sometimes astonished to find how easy the yoke of 
Christ was rendered by their doctrines. 



12. The Jansenists. 

It is obvious that all vitality must have been extinct in 
the Catholic church, if some opposition had not instantly 



250 THE CATHOLIC. 

arisen to these most corrupting doctrines, and to the whole 
state of public opinion and public morals of which they 
were both effect and cause. 

Most of the orders were already at variance with the 
Jesuits ; the Dominicans on account of their dissent from 
Thomas Aquinas, the Franciscans and Capuchins on account 
of the exclusive power which the Jesuits claimed in the 
missions of further Asia : sometimes they were attacked by 
the bishops, whose authority they lessened ; at other times 
by the parish priests with whose duties they interfered ; 
even in the universities, especially in France and the 
Netherlands, they frequently encountered opposition. But 
all this desultory warfare constituted no vigorous or effec- 
tive resistance, which indeed could only spring from a more 
profound conviction, quickened by a fresher spirit. 

For the moral code of the Jesuits was in exact accord- 
ance with their theological dogmas ; in both they allowed 
great scope to the freedom of the will. 

This, however, was the very point against which was 
directed the most formidable opposition ever encountered 
by the Jesuits, the origin and progress of which were as 
follows. 

During those years in which the disputes concerning the 
means of grace kept the whole body of theologians of the 
Catholic church in a state of constant contention, two young 
men, Cornelius Jansen of Holland, and Jean du Verger of 
Gascony, were pursuing their studies at Louvain ; both of 
whom, actuated by an equally profound conviction, had 
espoused the more rigid doctrine which had never entirely 
disappeared at that university, and had conceived an intense 
hatred to the Jesuits. Du Verger was the superior in rank 
and fortune ; he therefore took his friend with him to 
Bayonne. There they devoted themselves to a profound 
and unremitting study of the works of St. Augustine, and 
imbibed for the doctrines of that father of the church con- 



APPENDIX. 251 

cerning grace and freewill, an enthusiasm which decided 
the complexion of their whole remaining lives. While 
Jansenius who became professor at Louvain and bishop of 
Ypres, labored to restore the influence of these doctrines 
by theoretical, Du Yerger, who was made abbot of St. 
Cyran, strove to accomplish the same end by practical, as- 
ceticism. 

The book entitled Augustinus, in which Jansenius fully 
and systematically expounded his own religious creed, is 
most remarkable ; not only as boldly assailing the moral 
code and religious dogmas of the Jesuits, but as making this 
assault for the purpose of restoring the doctrines of grace, 
sin, and forgiveness, which had degenerated into mere tra- 
ditional formulae, to the efficacy of a vital faith. 

Jansenius sets out from the principle of the servitude of 
man's will ; he maintains that it is taken captive and held 
in bonds by the desire after earthly things, and unable of 
its own strength to raise itself from that condition ; grace 
must come to the assistance of the will ; that grace which 
is not so much remission of sins, as liberation of the soul 
from the bonds of desire. 

We now arrive at his own peculiar views. Grace, he 
says, is manifested by that higher and purer pleasure which 
was felt by the soul in godly things. The effectual grace 
of the Saviour is no other than a spiritual delight, by which 
the will is impelled to intend and to perform that which God 
has decreed. It is the involuntary impulse given by God 
to the will of man, in consequence of which he takes delight 
in good, and is moved to strive after its attainment. Jan- 
senius repeatedly inculcates the maxim, that the motive 
to good should not be fear of punishment, but love of right- 
eousness. 

From this point he ascends to the higher question — what 
this righteousness is ? 

The answer is, God himself. 



252 THE CATHOLIC. 

For we must not figure to ourselves God under a bodily 
form, nor under any image, not even that of the light ; we 
must look upon him and love him as the Eternal Truth, 
from which flows all truth and wisdom ; as Righteous- 
ness, not considered as a quality of the soul, but as an Idea, 
a supreme inviolable rule existing in the soul. The rules 
of our actions have their origin in the eternal law, and are 
a reflection of its light; whosoever loveth righteousness, 
loveth God. 

Man does not necessarily become good by directing his 
mind to this or that particular virtue, but by keeping in 
view the one immutable supreme Good, which is truth, which 
is God himself. Virtue is the love of God. 

In this very love consists the liberation of the will ; since 
its inexpressible sweetness annihilates the pleasure arising 
from the gratification of man's evil desires ; hence arises a 
voluntary and blissful necessity not to commit sin, but to 
live a good life : and this is the true freewill — a will freed 
from evil and exclusively determined by good. 

The degree to which the dogmatical deductions in this 
work are developed with all the clearness of philosophical 
argument, in the midst of the polemical zeal of hostile dis- 
cussion, is worthy of admiration : the fundamental ideas 
are at once moral and religious, speculative and practical ; 
it opposes to the mere outward observances, and the relaxa- 
tion of all self-discipline, of the Jesuitical system, a rigorous 
examination and government of the heart and mind ; the 
ideal of a system of action proceeding from, and terminating 
in, the love of God. 

Whilst Jansenius was still employed on this work, his 
friend was endeavoring to show forth in his own life, and 
practically to diffuse among his disciples, the ideas upon 
which it was founded. 

St. Cyran, for thus was Du Verger called, had formed for 
himself in the midst of Paris a learned and ascetical her- 



APPENDIX. 253 

milage. He endeavored by an unwearied study of the 
Holy Scriptures and the fathers of the church, to imbue 
himself with their spirit. Those peculiarities of doctrine 
in which he concurred with Jansenius, necessarily led him 
to their immediate application to the sacrament of penance. 
He was not satisfied with the penances enjoined by the 
church; he was heard to say that the church had been 
purer in her infancy, as streams near their source ; that 
many of the truths of the gospel were now obscured. His 
demands were extremely rigorous. Lowliness, patience, 
dependence upon God, complete renunciation of the world, 
and the devotion of all the thoughts and words and deeds 
to the love of God — this alone would he allow to be Chris- 
tianity. He had so profound a conception of the necessity 
of an inward change, that according to him grace must pre- 
cede repentance. " When it is the will of God to save a soul, 
he works inwardly on the spirit ; if the heart is changed and 
true contrition felt, every thing else follows ; absolution only 
marks the first ray of grace : as the physician must watch 
and follow the movements and internal operations of nature, 
so must those who minister to the soul's health, the work- 
ings of grace." It was a frequent remark of his, that he 
had passed through the several phases of temptation and 
sin, to contrition, prayer, and exaltation. He communicated 
his thoughts to very few, and then briefly, and in a manner 
expressive of the serenity of his mind ; but his whole soul 
was filled with his subject, as he always waited for a fitting 
opportunity and a suitable frame of mind, not alone in him- 
self but in others, the impression he made was irresistible ; 
his hearers frequently felt an involuntary change come over 
them, and burst into unlooked for tears. He soon had as 
proselytes some of the most distinguished men in France, 
among whom were Arnauld d'Andilly, who was on intimate 
terms with Cardinal Richelieu and Anne of Austria, and 
was employed in the most important affairs of state ; and 

22 



254 THE CATHOLIC. 

his nephew Le ' Maitre, who though remarkable for being 
the most eloquent speaker in the French parliament, and 
with the most brilliant career before him, now retired from 
the world into strict seclusion. Angelique Arnauld, whom 
we have already mentioned, and her nuns of Portroyal, 
attached themselves to St. Cyran with that absolute de- 
votedness which' pious women are wont to feel for their 
prophet. 

Jansenius died before he could see his book printed ; St. 
Cyran, immediately after his first conversions, was thrown 
into prison by Richelieu, who had a natural antipathy to 
efforts so directed and so successful ; but these calamities did 
not check the diffusion of their doctrines. 

The book of Jansenius gradually produced a deep and 
general impression, both from its inherent merits and from 
its polemical boldness. St. Cyran continued to make con- 
verts even from his prison : the unmerited sufferings which 
had fallen to his lot, and which he bore with the greatest 
resignation, increased the reverence with which he was re- 
garded ; and when he obtained his freedom by the death of 
Cardinal Richelieu, he was 'beheld as a saint, a John the 
Baptist. He died a few months after Avards, on the 11th of 
October, 1643; but he had established a school which 
looked upon his and Jansenius's doctrines as their gospel. 
" His disciples," says one of them, " go forth as young eagles 
from under his wings ; heirs of his virtues and piety, who 
again transmit to others what they have received from their 
master. Elijah left behind him more than one Elisha who 
completed his work." 

In endeavoring to obtain a clear view of the relation 
which the Jansenists bore to the predominant religious par- 
ties, we are forcibly reminded of the early protestants. 
They aim with the same zeal at sanctification of life ; they 
strive with the same earnestness to reform the system of 
faith, by a rejection of the additions and interpolations of 



APPENDIX. 255 

the schools. But these points of resemblance are, in my 
opinion, very far from justifying us in pronouncing them to 
be a sort of unconscious protestants. The main difference, 
in an historical point of view, consists in this ; that they 
voluntarily admitted a principle which protestantism from 
the very first utterly rejected ; they remained steadily at- 
tached to the most eminent fathers of the Latin church, 
whose authority had been thrown off by Germany as early 
as the year 1523, such as St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and 
St. Gregory; and even adopted some of those of the Greek 
church, especially St. Chrysostom. In the works of these illus- 
trious men they thought they possessed a genuine and unadul- 
terated tradition, from which St. Bernard had never deviated, 
but which, subsequent to the times of this " last of the fathers," 
had become obscured by the intrusion of the Aristotelic 
doctrines. We, therefore, find them far removed from that 
energetic zeal with which the protestants resorted directly 
to the Holy Scriptures ; their consciences were satisfied 
with the primary formations which had become the substra- 
tum of the later system. They adhere to the maxim, that 
the visible church, in spite of moments of eclipse or of dis- 
figurement, is yet of one spirit and even of one body with 
Christ, infallible, and immortal ; they strenuously uphold 
the episcopal hierarchy ; they have the most profound con- 
viction that St. Augustine was inspired by God to expound 
to the world, in all its fulness, the doctrine of grace, which 
is the very essence of the new covenant ; in him is to be 
found, according to them, the consummation of the Chris- 
tian theology, which they desire to grasp at its very root, to 
understand to its very core, and to avoid the Pelagian errors 
which had often been mistaken for the opinions of St. Au- 
gustine. The spirit of Luther was awakened by Augustine, 
but he then resorted without hesitation or compromise to the 
wellspring of instruction, the Holy Scriptures, the word of 
God, while on the contrary, orthodox Catholicism held fast 



256 THE CATHOLIC. 

to the system matured by the lapse of centuries, in all its 
integrity ; the Jansenists, on the other hand, seek to enforce 
the creed of Augustine as such ; — as comprehending all 
that had gone before, and as laying the foundation of all 
that was to come after. Protestantism rejects tradition 
Catholicism clings to it ; Jansenism seeks to purify it, and 
to reestablish it in its primitive form and authenticity, 
and thus hopes to effect the regeneration both of life and 
doctrine. 

A company of persons of some consideration, who em- 
braced these opinions, soon assembled in the hermitage 
of Portroyal des Champs, whither Le Maitre had originally 
retired. 

At first indeed the circle was very limited, consisting 
principally of members and friends of the Arnauld family. 
Le Maitre induced four of his brothers to join him. Their 
mother, from whom they had imbibed their religious senti- 
ments, was by birth an Arnauld ; Arnauld d'Andilly was 
the oldest friend of St. Cyran, who bequeathed his heart to 
him, and after a time he too joined the company ; his 
youngest brother, Antoine Arnauld, was the author of the 
first considerable work in defence of their opinions. Many 
other relations and friends soon followed their example. The 
convent also of Portroyal at Paris was almost exclusively 
in the hands of that family ; Andilly relates that his mother, 
who retired thither at the close of her life, beheld around 
her twelve daughters and granddaughters. It may not be 
superfluous to mention that the expulsion of the Jesuits 
from Paris in the year 1594, had been mainly owing to the 
potent and brilliant eloquence of an elder Antoine Arnauld, 
from whom all these were descended. Antipathy to the 
Jesuits appeared to be hereditary in the race. 

This narrow circle of friends, however, was soon largely 
extended. 

Many joined them, who had no other connection but that 



APPENDIX. 257 

of similarity of opinions ; Singlin, a disciple of St. Cyran, 
and an eminent preacher at Paris, was especially active in 
the cause. He was remarkable for the peculiarity, that 
whereas in the common intercourse of life he expressed 
himself with difficulty, he no sooner ascended the pulpit than 
he displayed the most overpowering eloquence. His most 
zealous followers were sent to Portroyal, where they were 
cordially welcomed. They were chiefly young ecclesiastics, 
and learned men, rich merchants, men of the highest fami- 
lies, physicians who had already acquired a station in the 
world, and members of various religious orders ; in short, 
all of them were men who were induced to take this step 
from inward impulse and sincere conviction. 

In this retreat, which may be likened to a convent held 
together by no vows, many religious exercises were per- 
formed ; the churches were zealously attended ; prayers 
were frequently offered up both in company and in solitude ; 
agricultural pursuits, or some handicraft, were followed by 
the members ; but they chiefly devoted their time to letters ; 
the religious society of Portroyal was likewise a sort of 
literary academy. 

Whilst the Jesuits were hoarding up learning in huge 
folios, or were losing themselves in the mazes of the revolt- 
ing subtleties of an artificial system of morals and dogmas, 
the Jansenists addressed themselves to the nation. 

They began by translating the Holy Scriptures, the 
fathers of the church, and Latin prayerbooks ; they hap- 
pily avoided the old Frankish forms which had till now been 
so prejudicial to the popularity of all works of that kind, 
and expressed themselves with an attractive clearness of 
style. The establishment of a seminary at Portroyal led 
them to compose school-books on the ancient and modern 
languages, logic, and geometry, which emanating from minds 
not trammelled by antiquated forms, contained new methods, 
the merits of which have been universally admitted. They 
22* 



258 THE CATHOLIC. 

also published polemical writings, the acuteness and precis- 
ion of which confounded their enemies ; or works of the 
profoundest piety, such as " Les Heures de Portroyal," 
which were received with the utmost eagerness, and were 
as new and as much in request, after the lapse of a century, 
as on the first day of their appearance. Men of the lofty 
genius and the profound science of Pascal, of the poetical 
originality and perfection of Racine, and of the wide range 
of knowledge of Tillemont were formed within their walls. 
Their labors extended, as we see, far beyond the circle of 
ascetic theology which Jansen and Du Verger had traced. 
It would not be too much to assert, that this union of men 
of high intellect, and filled with noble objects, who, in their 
mutual intercourse, and by their original and unassisted 
efforts gave rise to a new tone of expression and a new 
method of communicating ideas, had a most remarkable 
influence on the whole form and character of the literature 
of France, and hence of Europe ; and that the literary 
splendor of the age of Louis XIV. may be in part ascribed 
to the society of Portroyal. 

It was impossible that the spirit which had given birth 
to all these productions should not penetrate the whole 
nation ; adherents arose in all quarters, especially among 
the parish priests, who had long regarded with detesta- 
tion the mode of confession practised by the Jesuits. 
Sometimes it appeared — for instance in the time of Car- 
dinal Retz — as if the Jansenists were about to make 
converts among the higher clergy; and some important 
offices were actually distributed among them. "We soon 
find them not only in the Netherlands and in France ; but 
even in Spain they had some partisans, and in the time of 
Innocent X. a Jansenist preacher publicly promulgated his 
doctrines in Rome. 



EXTRACT FROM PREFACE 

TO EXPOSITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BY MATTHEW HENRY. 



UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS OF THE JANSENISTS TO 
CIRCULATE THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

" Father Quesnel, a French papist but a Jansenist, pub- 
lished the New Testament in French, in several small 
volumes, with moral reflections on every verse, to render the 
reading of it more profitable, and meditation upon it more 
easy. It was much esteemed in France, for the sake of the 
piety and devotion which appeared in it, and it had several 
impressions. The Jesuits were much disgusted, and solicited 
the pope for the condemnation of it, though the author of it 
was a papist, and many things in it countenanced popish 
superstition. 

After much struggling about it in the Court of Rome, a 
bull was at length obtained, at the request of the French 
king, from the present pope, Clement XL, bearing date 
September 8, 1713, by which the said book, with what title 
or in what language soever it is printed, is prohibited and 
condemned ; both the New Testament itself, because in 
many things varying from the vulgar Latin, and the Anno- 
tations, as containing divers propositions (above a hundred 
are enumerated) scandalous and pernicious, injurious to the 
church and its customs, impious, blasphemous, savoring of 
heresy. And the propositions are such as these : " That 
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the effectual principle 
of all manner of good, is necessary for every good action ; 
for without it nothing is done, nay, nothing can be done." 

(259) 



260 THE CATHOLIC. 

" That it is a sovereign grace, and is an operation of the 
Almighty hand of God." "That when God accompanies 
his word with the internal power of his grace, it operates 
in the soul the obedience which it demands." " That faith 
is the first grace, and the fountain of all others," " That it 
is in vain for us to call God our Father, if we do not cry to 
him with the spirit of love." " That there is no God, nor 
religion, where there is no charity." " That the Catholic 
church comprehends the angels and all the elect and just 
men of the earth, of all ages." " That it has the word in<- 
carnate for its head, and all the saints for its members." 
" That it is profitable and necessary at all times, in all places, 
and for all sorts of persons, to know the Holy Scriptures." 
" That the holy obscurity of the word of God is no reason 
for the laity not reading it." " That the Lord's day ought 
to be sanctified by reading books of piety, especially the 
Holy Scriptures." And "that to forbid Christians from 
reading the Scriptures, is to prohibit the use of light to the 
children of light." Many such positions as these, which 
the spirit of every good Christian cannot but relish as true 
and good, are condemned by the Pope's bull as impious and 
blasphemous. And this bull, though strenuously opposed 
by a great number of the bishops in France who were well 
affected to the notions of Father Quesnel, was yet received 
and confirmed by the French king's letters patent, bearing 
date at Versailles, February 14, 1714, which forbid all 
manner of persons, upon pain of exemplary punishment, so 
much as to keep any of those books in their houses ; and 
adjudge any that should hereafter write in defence of the 
propositions condemned by the pope, as disturbers of the 
peace. 



EXTRACT FROM D' ISRAELI'S CURIOSITIES OF 
LITERATURE. 1 



THE POETEOYAL SOCIETY,. 

Every lover of letters has heard of this learned society, 
which, says Gibbon, contributed so much to establish in 
France a taste for just reasoning, simplicity of style, and 
philosophical method. Their " logic, or the art of think- 
ing," for its lucid, accurate, and diversified matter, is still 
an admirable work ; notwithstanding the writers at that 
time had to emancipate themselves from the barbarism of 
the scholastic logic with cautious boldness. It was the 
conjoint labor of Arnauld and Mcolle. Europe has bene- 
fited by the labors of these learned men : but not many 
have attended to the origin and dissolution of this literary 
society. 

In the year 1637, Le Maitre, a celebrated advocate, re- 
signed the bar, and the honor of being Conseiller a" Mat, 
which his uncommon merit had obtained him, though then 
only twenty-eight years of age. His brother, De Sericourt, 
who had followed the military profession, quitted it at the 
same time. Consecrating themselves to the service of 
God, they retired into a small house near the Portroyal 
of Paris, where they were joined by their brothers De Sacy, 
De St. Elme, and De Valmont. Arnauld, one of their 

i Page 27, 

(261) 



262 THE CATHOLIC. 

most illustrious associates, was induced to enter into the 
Jansenist controversy, and then it was they encountered 
the powerful persecution of the Jesuits. Constrained to re- 
move from that spot, they fixed their residence at a few 
leagues from Paris, and called it Portroyal des Champs. 

With these illustrious recluses many distinguished persons 
now retired, who had given up their parks and houses to be 
appropriated to their schools ; and this community was called 
the Society of Portroyal. 

Here were no rules, no vows, no constitution, and no cells 
formed. Prayer, and study, and manual labor were their 
only occupations. ' They applied themselves to the education 
of youth, and raised up little academies in the neighborhood, 
where the members of the Portroyal, the most illustrious 
names of literary France, presided. None considered his 
birth entitled him to any exemption from their public offices, 
relieving the poor and attending on the sick, and employing 
themselves in their farms and gardens ; they were carpen- 
ters, ploughmen, gardeners, and vine-dressers, etc., as if they 
had practised nothing else ; they studied physic, and surgery, 
and law ; in truth, it seems that from religious motives, these 
learned men attempted to form a community of primitive 
Christianity. 

The Duchess of Longueville, once a political chief, sacri- 
ficed her ambition on the altar of Portroyal, enlarged the 
monastic enclosure with spacious gardens and orchards, built 
a noble house, and often retreated to its seclusion. The 
learned D'Andilly, the translator of Josephus, after his 
studious hours, resorted to the cultivation of fruit-trees ; and 
the fruit of Portroyal became celebrated for its size and 
flavor. Presents were sent to the Queen-Mother of France, 
Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarine, who used to call 
it " Frutti beni." It appears that " families of rank, afflu- 
ence, and piety, who did not wish entirely to give up their 
avocations in the world, built themselves country-houses in 



APPENDIX. 263 

the valley of Portrayal, in order to enjoy the society of its 
religious and literary inhabitants." 

In the solitude of Portrayal, Racine received his educa- 
tion ; and, on his death-bed desired to be buried in its ceme- 
tery, at the feet of his master, Hamon. Arnauld, persecuted, 
and dying in a foreign country, still cast his lingering looks 
on this beloved retreat, and left the society his heart, which 
■ vas there inurned. 

Anne de Bourbon, a princess of the blood royal, erected a 
house near the Portrayal, and was, during her life, the pow- 
erful patroness of these solitary and religious men ; but her 
death in 1679, was the fatal stroke which dispersed them for 
ever. 

The envy and the fears of the Jesuits, and their rancor 
against Arnauld, who with such ability had exposed their 
designs, occasioned the destruction of the Portrayal So- 
ciety. Exinanite, exinanite usque ad fundamentum in ae ! 
Annihilate it, annihilate it, to its very foundations ! Such 
are the terms in the Jesuitic decree. The Jesuits had long 
called the little schools of Portrayal the hotbeds of heresy. 
Gregoire, in his interesting memoir of " Ruins of Port- 
royal," has drawn an affecting picture of that virtuous 
society, when the Jesuits obtained by their intrigues an order 
from government to break it up. They razed the buildings, 
and ploughed up the very foundation ; they exhausted their 
hatred even on the stones, and profaned even the sanctuary 
of the dead ; the corpses were torn out of their graves, and 
dogs were suffered to contend for the rags of their shrouds. 
When the Portrayal had no longer an existence, the 
memory of that asylum of innocence and learning was still 
kept alive by those who collected the engravings represent- 
ing that place by Mademoiselle Hortemels. 



EXTRACT FROM SEYMOUR'S MORNINGS AT ROME 
WITH THE JESUITS. 1 



" My clerical friend, after a pause, which I was unwilling 
to break, lest I should express myself as strongly as I felt, 
resumed the conversation, and said, that the worship of the 
Virgin Mary was a growing worship in Rome ; that it was 
increasing in depth and intenseness of devotion ; and that 
there were now many of their divines, and he spoke of him- 
self as agreeing with them in sentiment, who were teaching 
that as a woman brought in death, so a woman was to bring 
in life ; that as a woman brought in sin, so a woman was to 
bring in holiness ; that as Eve brought in damnation, so 
Mary was to bring in salvation ; and that the effect of this 
opinion was largely to increase the reverence and worship 
given to the Virgin Mary. 

" I said that I had read something of the kind, and also 
that I had seen a sort of parallel in some of the Fathers on 
the subject, but that it did not go so far as the modern 
opinion. But in order not to misunderstand him, and to 
prevent any mistake as to his views, I asked whether I was 
to understand him as implying that, as we regard Eve as 
the first sinner, so we are to regard Mary as the first Saviour; 
one as the awthor of sin, and the other as the author of the 
remedy. 

" He replied that such was precisely the view he wished to 
express, and he added that it was taught by St. Alphonso 
de Liguori, and was a growing opinion. He seemed to 
think, from my seriousness of manner, that he had made an 

1 Seymour, p. 44-46. 
(264) 



APPENDIX. 265 

impression on me very different from the reality, for I was 
deeply grieved at his statement, in which there was not the 
least allusion to Christ. Mary seemed to be substituted for 
Christ. 

" I felt that he had gone very far, but I also felt he had not 
gone further than my own impressions as to the religion of 
Italy, so far as I had seen it. I therefore took the oppor- 
tunity of saying what otherwise I would have been unwill- 
ing to express. I introduced it by some courteous and apol- 
ogetic expressions, to prevent his taking any offence, and 
assured him I felt happy in being able to speak my mind to 
one so capable of understanding and appreciating my feel- 
ings, and I prayed him not to be offended at my freedom. 
I then stated, with all the seriousness the subject demanded, 
and all the solemnity I could command, that, from all I had 
observed of the religion of Italy, whether as exhibited in 
the churches, displayed in processions, or expressed in pri- 
vate ; whether as exhibited in the forms of prayer, in the 
object of worship, in the books of devotion, or in the con- 
versation of the people, it appeared to me to be character- 
ized by one great feature, which forced itself unceasingly 
on my mind. It seemed to me that all tended to the honor 
of Mary rather than to the honor of Christ ; and that this 
seemed to me to be carried to such an extreme, that I felt in 
my calm and sober judgment that the religion of Italy ought 
to be called the religion of Mary rather than the religion of 
Christ ! I again apologized for so strong an opinion, but 
added that, feeling strongly on the point, I wished to express 
myself with a frankness and sincerity, which I hoped he 
would excuse. 

" I watched anxiously to see the impression of my words ; 
I feared that, as they would have elicited a burst of indigna- 
tion, real or affected, among the Romanists of England or 
of Ireland, so they might possibly cause some offence even 
in Italy ; but it was far otherwise. He seemed quite un- 

23 



266 THE CATHOLIC. 

moved, as if he received my words as a matter of course — 
as expressing something very natural and of no unfrequent 
occurrence. . His reply was made with perfect ease and en 
tire frankness. 

" He stated that my impression was very natural ; that 
such was really the appearance of things ; that, coming from 
Germany, where Christ on the cross was the ordinary object 
of veneration, into Italy, where the Virgin Mary was the 
universal object of reverence, it was no more than natural 
such an impression should have been created ; that such an 
impression was very much the reality of the case ; and that, 
to his own knowledge, the religion of Italy was latterly be- 
coming less and less the religion of Christ ; and that " the 
devotion to the most Holy Virgin," as he called it, was cer- 
tainly on the increase. 

" I was perfectly startled, not, indeed, at the statement 
itself, for it was too palpably true to escape the observation 
of any one, but that a man, a minister of Christianity, should 
describe such a state of things with the manifest approval 
he exhibited." 






EFFECTS AND TENDENCY OF THE EOMAN 
CATHOLIC KELIGION. 1 



It is evident, that the papacy hath devoured all the 
privileges and rights of all orders in the church, either 
granted by God, or established in the ancient canons. 

The royalties of Peter are become immense ; and, con- 
sistently to his practice, the pope doth allow men to tell him 
to his face, that all power in heaven and in earth is given 
unto him. 

It belongeth to him to judge of the whole church. 

He hath a plenitude (as he calleth it) of power, by 
which he can infringe any law, or do any thing that he 
pleasetk 

It is the tenor of his bulls, that whoever rashly dareth to 
thwart his will shall incur the indignation of Almighty God, 
and (as if that were not enough) of St. Peter and St. Paul 
also. 

No man must presume to tax his faults, or to judge of 
his judgment. 

It is idolatry to disobey his commands, against their own 
sovereign lord. 

There are who dare in plain terms call him omnipotent, 
and who ascribe infinite power to him. And that he is in- 
fallible is the most common and plausible opinion : so that 
at Rome the contrary is erroneous, and within an inch of 
being heretical. 

We are now told, that " if the pope should err by enjoin- 

1 An extract from a Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy, by Dr. Bar- 
row, vol. 7, p. 290. 

(267) 



268 THE CATHOLIC. 

ing vices or forbidding virtues, the church should be bound 
to believe vices to be good, and virtues evil, unless it would 
sin against conscience." 

The greatest princes must stoop to his will ; otherwise he 
hath power to cashier and depose them. 

Now what greater inconvenience, what more horrible 
iniquity can there be, than that all God's people (that free 
people, who are called to freedom) should be subject to so 
intolerable a yoke and miserable a slavery ? 

That tyranny soon had crept into the Roman church Soc- 
rates telleth us. 

They have rendered true that definition of Scioppius : 
" The church is a stall, or herd, or multitude of beasts, or 
asses." 

They bridle us, they harness us, they spur us, they lay 
yokes and laws upon us. 

The greatest tyranny that ever was invented in the world 
is the pretence of infallibility : for Dionysius and Phalaris 
did leave the mind free, (pretending only to dispose of body 
and goods according to their will) : but the pope, not content 
to make us do and say what he pleaseth, will have us also to 
think so ; denouncing his imprecations and spiritual menaces, 
if we do not. 

Such an authority will inevitably produce a depravation 
of Christian doctrine, by distorting it in accommodation of 
it to the promoting its designs and interests. It will blend 
Christianity with worldly notions and policies. 

It certainly will introduce new doctrines, and interpret 
the old ones so as may serve to the advancement of the 
power, reputation, pomp, wealth, and pleasure, of those who 
manage it, and of their dependents. 1 

1 The immaculate conception is one of these "new doctrines." 
The Abbe Laborde, of tbe Diocese of Audi in France, has publisbed a 
work " On the impossibility of the Immaculate Conception as an arti- 
cle of Faith," which has passed through three editions in France, and 



APPENDIX. 269 

That which is called Ka-rnqT^vEtv rbv "kbyov rov Qeov, to make 
a trade of religion will be the great work of the teachers of 
the church. It will turn all divines into mercenary, slavish, 
designing flatterers. 

This we see come to pass, Christianity by the papal in- 
fluence being from its original simplicity transformed into 
quite another thing than it was ; from a divine philosophy 
designed to improve the reason, to moderate the passions, to 
correct the manners of men, to prepare men for conversa- 
tion with God and angels, modelled to a system of politic 
devices, (of notions, of precepts, of rites,) serving to exalt 
and enrich the pope, with his court and adherents, clients 
and vassals. 

What doctrine of Christian theology, as it is interpreted 
by their schools, hath not a direct aspect, or doth not squint 
that way ? especially according to the opinions passant and 
in vogue among them. 

To pass over those concerning the pope, (his universal 
pastorship, judgeship in controversies, power to call councils, 
presidency in them, superiority over them ; right to confirm 
or annul them ; his infallibility ; his double sword, and 
dominion (direct or indirect) over princes ; his dispensing in 
laws, in oaths, in vows, in matrimonial cases, with all other the 



been republished in a translation by Hooker of Philadelphia. In this 
he demonstrates that in the days of Thomas Aquinas, the doctrine 
was not, held in the schools, that it took its rise in the time of St. Ber- 
nard, and that the friends of the immaculate conception are witnesses 
to its modern origin and progress. He exposes the anti-Christian 
code of morality of modern Rome, and asks, " why should it surprise 
us, then, that the men who have destroyed the practice of primitive 
morality, should balance their work by the introduction of a new 
faith," and urges, in a Catholic tone, " that the opinion of the immac- 
ulate conception cannot be established as a dogma, and proposed as 
an article of belief, without shaking the foundations of religion." He 
has consequently been removed, and his book placed on the index of 
prohibited works. 

23* 



270 THE CATHOLIC. 

monstrous prerogatives, which the sound doctors of Rome, 
with encouragement of that chair, do teach). 

What doth the doctrine concerning the exempting of the 
clergy from secular jurisdiction, and immunity of their goods 
from taxes signify, but their entire dependence on the pope, 
and their being closely tied to his interests ? 

What is the exemption of monastical places from the juris- 
diction of bishops, but listing so many soldiers and advocates 
to defend and advance the papal empire ? 

What meaneth the doctrine concerning that middle region 
of souls, or cloister of purgatory, whereof the pope holdeth 
the keys ; opening and shutting it at his pleasure, by dispen- 
sation of pardons and indulgences ; but that he must be 
master of the people's condition, and of their purse ? 

What meaneth the treasure of merits and supererogatory 
works, whereof he is the steward, but a way of driving a 
trade, and drawing money from simple people to his treasury ? 

Whither doth the entangling of folks in perpetual vows 
tend, but to assure them in a slavish dependence on their 
interests, eternally, without evasion or remedy ; except by 
favorable dispensation from the pope ? 

Why is the opus operatum in sacraments taught to confer 
grace, but to breed a high opinion of the priest, and all he 
doth? 

Whence did the monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation 
(urged with so furious zeal) issue, but from design to mag- 
nify the credit of those, who by saying of a few words can 
make our God and Saviour ? and withal to exercise a nota- 
ble instance of their power over men, in making them to re- 
nounce their reason and senses ? 

Whither doth tend the doctrine concerning the mass being 
a propitiatory sacrifice for the dead, but to engage men to 
leave in their wills good sums to ojFer in their behalf? 

Why is the cup withholden from the laity, but to lay it 
low by so notable a distinction, in the principal mystery of 
our religion, from the priesthood ? 



APPENDIX. 271 

Why is saying private mass (or celebrating the commun- 
ion in solitude) allowed, but because priests are paid for it, 
and live by it ? 

At what doth the doctrine concerning the necessity of au- 
ricular confession aim, but that thereby the priests may 
have a mighty awe on the consciences of all people, may 
dive into their secrets, may manage their lives as they 
please ? 

And what doth a like necessary particular absolution 
intend, but to set the priest in a lofty state of authority 
above the people, as a judge of his condition and dispen- 
ser of his salvation ? 

Why do they equal ecclesiastical traditions with Scrip- 
ture, but that on the pretence of them they may obtrude 
whatever doctrines advantageous to their designs ? 

What drift hath the doctrine concerning the infallibility 
of churches or councils, but that, when opportunity doth 
invite, he may call a company of bishops together to estab- 
lish what he liketh, which ever after must pass for certain 
truth, to be contradicted by none ; so enslaving the minds 
of all men to his dictates, which always suit to his in- 
terest. 

What doth the prohibition of Holy Scripture drive at, 
but a monopoly of knowledge to themselves, or a detaining 
of people in ignorance of truth and duty; so that they 
must be forced to rely on them for direction, must believe all 
they say, and blindly submit to their dictates ; being dis- 
abled to detect their errors, or contest their opinions ? 

Why must the sacraments be celebrated, and public devo- 
tions exercised, in an unknown tongue, but that the priests 
may seem to have a peculiar interest in them, and ability for 
them ? 

Why must the priesthood be so indispensably forbidden 
marriage, but that it may be wholly untacked from the 
State, and rest addicted to him, and governable by him ; 



272 THE CATHOLIC. 

that the persons and wealth of priests may be purely at his 
devotion ? 

To what end is the clogging religion by multiplication of 
ceremonies and formalities, but to amuse the people, and 
maintain in them a blind reverence toward the interpreters 
of the dark mysteries couched in them ; and by seeming to 
encourage an exterior show of piety (or form of godliness) 
to gain reputation and advantage, whereby they might op- 
press the interior virtue and reality of it, as the Scribes and 
Pharisees did, although with less designs ? 

Why is the veneration of images and relics, the credence 
of miracles and legends, the undertaking of pilgrimages 
and voyages to Rome, and other places, more holy than or- 
dinary ; sprinklings of holy water, consecrations of baubles, 
(with innumerable foppish knacks and trinkets,) so cher- 
ished; but to keep the people in a slavish credulity and 
dotage, apt to be led by them whither they please, by any 
sleeveless pretence, and in the meanwhile to pick various 
gains from them by such trade ? 

What do all such things mean, but obscuring the native 
simplicity of Christianity, whereas it being represented in- 
telligible to all men, would derogate from that high admira- 
tion, which these men pretend to from their peculiar and 
profound wisdom ? And what would men spend for these 
toys, if they understood they might be good Christians, and 
get to heaven without them ? 

What doth all that pomp of religion serve for, but for 
ostentation of the dignity of those who administer it ? It 
may be pretended for the honor of religion, but it really 
conduceth to the glory of the priesthood, who shine in those 
pageantries. 

Why is monkery (although so very different from that 
which was in the ancient times) so cried up as a superlative 
state of perfection, but that it filleth all places with swarms 
of lusty people, who are vowed servants to him, and have 



APPENDIX. 273 

little else to do but to advance that authority by which they 
subsist in that dronish way of life ? 

In fine, perusing the controversies of Bellarmine, or any 
other champion of Romanism, do but consider the nature 
and scope of each doctrine maintained by them ; and you 
may easily discern, that scarce any of them but doth tend to 
advance the interests of the pope, or of his sworn vassals. 1 

1 The Romish Hierarchy in this country are usually very guarded 
in their language as to the papal power, but occasionally when their 
ardor is kindled, let fall expressions which betray their views, pur- 
poses, and secret aspirations. Thus the Chaplain of the Bishop of 
Boston, after finding it, " an unspeakable privilege " to kneel and kiss 
with devout fervor, the feet of Pius IX., in his apostrophe to Rome 
asserts : " That Rome is full of life, and still acts, decrees, and com- 
mands with all the energy and vivacity of her youth. When she lifts 
her arm to strike, the haughtiest monarchs quail, she wields an influence 
even over the empires that affect to hold her in derision more potent than 
that of all the powers of Christendom." " She will finally triumph/' 
" Clothed with glory and radiant with light, will behold her enemies at 
her feet, suppliants for mercy and pardon." — Haskin's Travels in 
Italy. Boston, A. d. 1856, p. 52, 58, and 100. 



CONVERSION OF THE BRITONS BY ST. PAUL 
OR HIS IMMEDIATE CONVERTS. 



In my letter upon the Episcopal Church, I gave but a 
portion of the proof that the first churches in Britain were 
founded by St. Paul. The whole evidence upon this sub- 
ject is ancient, and the ancient writers, while they concede 
the conversion of Britain at a very early period, furnish 
evidence that it was commenced by St. Paul. Much of 
the testimony on this point is collected by Stillingfleet and 
burgess in their works on the antiquities of the British 
churches, which may be found on the shelves of the Sears' 
library in Boston, a very valuable collection. 

While St. Peter is generally described by the fathers, as 
the apostle of the circumcised, St. Paul is uniformly treated 
as the great apostle to the Gentiles ; and it is shown by 
the evidence of Eusebius and St. Jerome, that St. Paul 
was taken prisoner to Rome, between the second and 
seventh years of Nero, and was not executed there until 
the fourteenth year of his reign, A. d. 67 to 68. 

We learn from St. Luke, that he abode in Rome but two 
years, and he was consequently at liberty to enter other 
regions, from some period between the fourth and ninth 
years of Nero. And for a subsequent period of five or ten 
years, had ample time to visit Britain. 

St. Clement, the associate of St. Paul and third bishop of 
Rome, in his beautiful letter in Greek to the Christians in 

(274) 



APPENDIX. 275 

Corinth, to which I have already referred, says of St. 
Paul, " that having taught righteousness to the whole world, 
having reached the utmost limit (or extremity) of the west, 
and borne a martyr's testimony before the rulers, he had 
left the world and gone to the holy place, the greatest exem- 
plar of patient suffering." 

St. Clement here assures us that St. Paul had taught 
righteousness to the whole world. But down to the period of 
his release at Rome, we hear of him only in Asia, on the 
borders of Africa, in Southern Europe, and the Isles of the 
Mediterranean. Gaul, Spain, and Britain, still remained as 
fields for his enterprise, to complete his task, and to verify 
the language of Clement. 

The phrase " Extremity of the West," or in the Greek 
of Clement, rep^a rrjg dvceag, is peculiarly significant, when 
used by a bishop of Rome, and cannot be construed to 
mean Italy itself, (as Lingard suggests,) when it comes from 
the mouth of a Roman. To the Romans, Rome was the 
central seat of government, the centre of the world, sur- 
rounded by her provinces of Gaul, Spain, Britain, Germany, 
Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor, Asia, and Africa. To Rome 
and the Roman, Britain, the last conquest of Caesar, was the 
extremity of the West, and after the invasion of Caesar, 
Britain is thus described by the leading authors and geogra- 
phers of Rome. One writes of Britain : — 

"Et penitus toto divisis orbe Britannis." 

Horace writes : — 

" Ultimos orbis Britannos." 

Catullus : — 

"Ultimam occidentis insnlam." 

The same author again writes : — 

" Ultimosque Britannos." 



276 THE CATHOLIC. 

Venantius Fortunatus, also writes that St. Paul — 

" Stylus ille,i 
Transit et oceanum vel quae facit Insula portum, 
Quasque Britannus habet terras, quasque ultima Thule ." 

Arnobius, too, in defining the bounds of the gospel east 
and west, mentions the Indians for the east, and the 
Britons for the west. 

But this is not the only evidence. St. Paul had finished 
his mission at the east, had carried the Gospel into southern 
Europe, been imprisoned and released at the capital city of 
the empire, and was now ready to embark upon his mission 
into other countries ; he had taken his final leave of his con- 
verts in the east, just before his imprisonment, when accom- 
panied by Christians from Berea, Thessalonica, and Derbe, 
and other cities of Asia, he came to Ephesus, and sending 
for the elders of the church, took his solemn leave of all 
of them, saying, " that I know that ye all among whom I 
have gone, preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face 
no more." " And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck 
and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which 
he spake, that they should see his face no more." 2 Thence 
he passed through Phoenicia to Jerusalem, and thence, 
chained to a soldier, to Pome. 

The question naturally arises, where was St. Paul during 
the long period which elapsed between his release and his 

1 Linguard translates " Stylus ille," that " epistle," but the literal 
translation of " stylus " is a pillar; and if we give it that signification, 
then Fortunatus assures us that St. Paul, that pillar (of the churches) 
crossed the ocean to Britain. 

Had he meant Epistle, he would doubtless have used ejus instead of 
Me. 

St. Chrysostom, in the third century, calls St. Paul " a pillar of the 
churches through the world 6 arvlog iCov nard, tt/v olnovfievTjv IkkX-t]' 
oiuv," and uses the Greek stulos, from which the Latins derive " stylus," 
to signify a " pillar." — Chrysostom in John 1:1. 

2 Acts 20 : 4, 25, 38. 



APPENDIX. 277 

martyrdom? He had passed from city to city, and from 
nation to nation, in preceding years. 

Was the great apostle idle during the years that ensued ? 
Such was not the belief of the ancient fathers ; * they say he 
was employed in the west, and such is conceded . to have 
been the common and received opinion of antiquity, by one 
of the ablest critics. 2 

Not only had St. Paul time and opportunity for visiting 
Britain, but Britain itself offered at this period an inviting 
harvest. Not only do we learn from Ccesar that it was 
very populous, but its mines of tin and copper had made 
it the resort of merchants., and we learn from Tacitus that 
it had been subdued under Claudius, and Eoman colonies 
had been established at London and other commercial or 
military stations. A way had thus been opened for the on- 
ward march of Christianity. 

But there were other reasons to induce St. Paul to visit 
Britain. In his epistles 3 he mentions several distinguished 
Britons, who were his friends and associates. He refers for 
instance to Linus, subsequently the first bishop of Pome, a 
prince of Britain, probably one of the saints in the house- 
hold of Cassar, mentioned by St. Paul. He refers also to 
a British lady of distinguished rank, and to her husband 
Pudens, who had served in Britain. These were his ac- 
quaintances, and doubtless his converts. The lady was 
Claudia, the Christian wife of Pudens, the son of a senator, 
and Martial hi his poems proves that she was a Briton. 

" Claudia Rufe mco nubit peregrina Pudenti, 
Claudia coeruleis cum sit Euiina Britannis." 

" Claudia, O Bufus, a foreigner, married my Pudens, 
Claudia among the blue-eyed Britons, our Burma." 

This blue-eyed lady of Britain, commended by Martial 

1 Stillingflcet, p. 40. _ 2 L. Capell ad. hist. Apo. p. 29. 

3 Philippians 4 : 22. 

2\ 



278 THE CATHOLIC* 

for her wit and beauty, had won the affections of a Roman 
patrician. 1 

As the question whether St. Paul could hav.e planted 
the church in Britain, turns in part upon the date of his 
arrival in Rome, let us briefly review the evidence on the 
subject. 

If he had arrived so late as a. d. 61, and been released, 
as some critics suggest, two years afterwards, he would, 
even then, have had five years for his mission ; but if he 
arrived as early as a. d. 56, he would have had at least ten 
years remaining to preach the Gospel in the west, and it is 
not easy to account for this long interval except upon the 
theory of a journey to Spain and Britain. 

The great majority of both ancient and modern histori- 
ans and critics, including Eusebius, St. Jerome, Bede, Ivo, 2 
Platina, Capellus, Petavius, Scaliger, Stillingfleet, and 
Burgess, adopt the year 56 of the Christian era for the 
visit of St. Paul to Rome. 3 

The modern critics rely principally upon the authority 
of the great historian Tacitus, and corroborative evidence. 
And the proof, although questioned by Weise.ler, Hales, 
Conybeare, and Howson, who rely upon a mission of 
Josephus to Rome, to prove a later period for the visit, 
appears to me conclusive. Tacitus and Josephus were con- 
temporaries ; both were young when St. Paul was sent pris- 
oner to Rome. They composed their histories after the 
destruction of Jerusalem, and did not publish them for forty 
years after the accession of Nero. 

But Tacitus resided in Rome, was of consular rank, had 
access to the public archives, and his dates are usually re- 
liable. Josephus, on the contrary, had no such advantages ; 

1 Claudia is referred to as a Christian, 2 Tim. 4 : 21. 

2 "Imperii sui (Ncronis) anno secundo Fcstum proeuratorem fecit." 
Chroniconlvonis, apud corpus Franciac Ilistoriac Vctcris. 

8 Bishop Burgess' Tract on the British church, p. 25 and 1S4. 



APPENDIX. 279 

he was a Roman prisoner during the siege of Jerusalem, 
and after the ruin of that city and the devastation of his 
country, died a provincial. 

His dates are not exact, and they sometimes conflict with 
the dates of Scripture, while one or two passages in his his- 
tory confirm the dates of Tacitus ; and did the question turn 
upon conflicting dates alone, in the works of the two histo- 
rians, the position and general accuracy of Tacitus would 
be decisive in his favor. 

A close analysis, however, makes it easy to reconcile their 
discrepancies, and to show that there is no serious conflict be- 
tween them. 

The visit of St. Paul to Rome was immediately preceded 
by the recall of Felix, for St. Paul did not commence his 
voyage until he had been heard by Festus, the new gover- 
nor of Judaea. If then we can determine the date of the 
recall of Felix, we thereby determine the date of the visit 
of St. Paul. 

The critics, who assign a later period, or A. d. 61, for his 
recall, draw their conclusions from the fact that Josephus 
was born A. d. 36, and was sent on a mission to Rome in 
his twenty-sixth year, to procure the release of some Jewish 
priests, sent thither as prisoners by Felix, and succeeded in 
his mission by the aid of Poppoea. They rely also on a 
further statement of Josephus, that Felix was accused by 
the Jews after his recall, and released by the intervention of 
Pallas, then high in favor with Nero. 

And on the additional observation of Josephus, that Felix 
was appointed procurator of, Judaea in the thirteenth year 
of Claudius, 1 which corresponds to the year 53 of the Chris- 
tian era. 

Arguing from these facts, such critics draw the inference 
that Josephus visited Rome A. d. 62, 2 and that if Felix was 

1 Annals of Josephus, xx. 8 and 9. 

2 If Josephus was born a. d. 36, and went to Some at the age of 
twenty-six, he must have gone thither a. d. 62. 



280 THE CATHOLIC. 

made governor of Judaea as late as a. d. 53, he could not 
have been recalled as early as a. d. 5Q, for there would not 
have been space in the interval for the various events 
which occurred under his administration. And they ask, if 
Felix had been less than three years ruler of Judaea, how 
could St. Paul have said to him at his trial, " I know thou 
hast been for many years a judge unto this nation." x Arriv- 
ing at the conclusion that he could not for these reasons 
have left Judaea as early as a. d. 56, they consequently 
infer that he had arrived at Rome in a. d. 62, when Jose- 
phus reached the capital. 

This argument is by no means conclusive, and is most 
successfully assailed by those who assign a. d. 56 for the 
visit of St. Paul. They rely upon Tacitus, and it seems 
to me no arduous task to reconcile the two historians. 

Felix was a manumitted slave, the brother of the freed- 
man Pallas, who, as the favorite of .Claudius, amassed a 
fortune of three hundred millions of sesterces. 2 

This brother stood high in favor during the first year of 
Nero. "We may judge of his arrogance and power, from the 
reply he made when charged by a slave with conspiracy, 
" that he never spoke to such people, but like the emperor, 
signified his commands by a gesture or in writing." 

Tacitus informs us that in the office (of treasurer) which 
he had received under Claudius, he assumed to be the 
absolute master of the empire, and was dismissed in dis- 
grace a. d. 5Q, in the second year of Nero. 3 Tacitus, in his 
annals of A. d. 52, the thirteenth year of Claudius, after 
describing the ostentatious refusal by Pallas of a gift of 
thirty millions of sesterces, offered him by the senate, ob- 
serves, " that his brother, surnamed Felix, for some time gov- 
ernor of Judcea acted not with the same moderation, but 
relying on such powerful protection, supposed he might per- 

1 Acts 24: 10. 2 Nearly fourteen millions of dollars. 

3 Tacitus' Annals, B. xiii. c. 14. 



APPENDIX. 283 

petrate with impunity every description of crime," and adds, 
" that he was emulated in his abandoned courses by Ventidius 
Cumanus, who held part of the province, the division being 
such that Galilee was subject to Cumanus, and Samaria to 
Felix." 1 He also informs us in the same chapter, " that Clau- 
dius gave a commission to Quadratus, governor of Syria, to 
try and sentence the governors, but that Quadratus took 
Felix by the hand, placed him on the tribunal among the 
judges, to awe his accusers, so that Cumanus alone was 
doomed for the crimes of both, and thereby the tranquillity 
of the province was restored." 2 

Thus we learn from the great historian, that the licentious 
Felix, " who displayed the power of a king with the temper 
of a slave," was in a. d. 52 dependent on Pallas, the treas- 
urer and ruler of the empire, that he had been for some time 
governor of the province of Judaea, which comprised both 
Samaria and Galilee, and that Galilee was assigned to Cu- 
manus. 

These facts are reconcilable with the passage in Josephus, 
that a. d. 53, Felix became procurator of Judaea, for upon 
the deposition of Cumanus he then took charge of Galilee 
as well as gamaria, and became ruler of all Judaea, although 
his commission to govern the province must have been 
prior to a. d. 50, and he must before that date have com- 
menced his rule in Samaria, while he suffered Cumanus to 
rule in Galilee. It appears also from the annals of Rome, 
that the average term of office of the governors of Judaea 
for half a century preceding, was but four years, and St. 
Paul might well say, in a. d. 56, to a Roman ruler, seven 
or eight years in office, " I know that thou hast been for 
many years a judge unto this nation." 

1 Ibid. B. xii. c. 54. 

2 Josephus admits that Cumanus had taken part in a conflict in the 
Province, and been arrested and banished before the twelfth year of 
Claudius, and that Felix was go vernor after his banishment, lxx. c. 5. 

24* 



282 THE CATHOLIC. 

The language of the apostle, then, presents no objection to 
the latest date, and we may not well presume, as some critics 
have done, that contrary to all the usages of Rome, the unjust 
Felix remained twelve years in office, or that lie continued 
governor over an oppressed people, after the downfall of 
his protector, Pallas, who fell a. d. 56, as stated by Tacitus. 
It is proper also to notice, that Josephus himself confirms 
the earlier date for the visit of St. Paul, when he states 
that " Felix was saved from punishment by his brother, at 
a time when Pallas was in the highest favor with Nero." 
This period was the first year of Nero, or a. d. 55, for he 
was disgraced in the year ensuing, and there is no evidence 
in history, that he was ever reconciled to the emperor, be- 
fore he caused him to be poisoned, in the very year in which 
Josephus arrived in Italy. 

Felix could not have been tried and pardoned in that 
year, for no one can argue safely that a dismissed officer of 
the emperor, either dead or about to die, was then in the 
highest favor with Nero. Again, there are other facts stated 
by Josephus, which are inconsistent with the later date, for 
the recall of Felix. Festus died early in a. d. 62, for his 
successor Albinus is found in possession of his office in the 
autumn of A. d. 62, after it had been long vacant, and it 
must have required a considerable portion of a year, to 
transmit the intelligence of his death to Rome, and to bring 
his successor to Judrea. And if the theory of the earlier 
date be correct, less than one year would exist to embrace 
all the events occurring under the government of Festus, 
which, according to the narrative of Josephus, must have 
continued for a series of years. For Josephus states that 
under the government of Festus, many events occurred. 

First. There was a serious insurrection which he re- 
pressed. 

Second. Agrippa II. built a palace that overlooked the 
temple of Jerusalem. 



APPENDIX. 283 

Third. The Jews built a high wall to intercept the view 
of Agrippa II. 

Fourth. The Jews sent a deputation to Rome, to obtain 
"permission to maintain their wall. 

Fifth. Their mission succeeded by intervention of Pop- 
poea. 

Sixth. Their agents returned, leaving the high-priest 
Ishmael a hostage at Rome. 

Seventh. Agrippa, on their return, nominates a new high- 
priest, Joseph, who after some months is succeeded by 
Ananus. These successive events, the insurrection, the 
suppression, the erection of the palace, the construction of 
the wall, the appeal to Ca3sar, the mission, the trial, the 
return, the changes of the priesthood, call for a space of five 
or six years. They cannot be compressed into a single 
year, from a. d. 61 to A. d. 62 ; but may well occupy the 
longer period between a. d. 56 and 62, and while they ren- 
der impossible the later date named for the recall, strong- 
ly confirm the earliest. "We may safely conclude, then, both 
from the testimony of Tacitus, St. Luke, and Josephus, that 
Felix was, in a. d. 55, recalled, pardoned, and succeeded by 
Festus, and thus place St. Paul in the ensuing year, on his 
eventful journey to the capital. The detention of the priests 
sent by Felix to Rome, does not militate with this con- 
clusion, for it was the usage of Rome to detain important 
prisoners. Thus were Brennus and his family detained seven 
years, and thus was St. Paul detained. It was the usage of 
Rome, too, when a province was in a turbulent state, like Ju- 
dosa, to keep important persons as hostages, and thus Josephus 
informs us was the high-priest Ishmael retained as a hostage 
when his associates were discharged. The ancient chronicle 
of Ivo, referred to in the note, which gives the second year of 
Nero for the appointment of Festus, confirms our reasoning, 
and indissolubly connects the voyage of St. Paul with the 
fifty-sixth year of the Christian Era. 



284 THE CATHOLIC. 

It is important to fix this date with some precision, for 
other events of interest cluster around this period. 

Tacitus, in his annals for A. d. 57, states that Pomponia 
Graecina, a lady of distinction charged with having em- 
braced a foreign superstition, and married to Plautius, who 
was honored by an ovation on his return from Britain, was 
tried by her husband. Plautius assembled her kindred, and 
in conformity with primitive institutions, having in their 
presence held solemn inquisition upon the conduct and 
character of his wife, adjudged her innocent. 

For forty years she wore no dress but that of mourning, 
and remained in constant melancholy; a conduct which, 
during the reign of Claudius, escaped with impunity and 
redounded afterwards to her honor. 1 

We also learn from contemporary history, that the family 
of Caractacus was taken from Britain to Rome, A. D. 51, 
and were subsequently liberated, and find it recorded in the 
Welsh Triads, that Brennus the father of Caractacus, re- 
turned from Rome, a. d. 58, after seven years' captivity, and 
brought with him the Christian faith. 

Contemporary history also states that during the reign of 
Claudius and Nero, the philosopher Seneca amassed a 
fortune of three hundred millions of sesterces, and augmented 
it by loans on interest in Britain and other provinces. It 
is recorded also by St. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, 
that St. Paul was acquitted at Rome, and discharged at the 
end of two years, which according to our computation, would 
be a. d. 58, or near that period. 

St. Paul says, " the things that have happened unto me 
have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel. So 
that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and 
in all other places." 2 



1 Tacitus, Annals, L. 13, c. 32. 

2 Phil. 1 : 13. Howson and Conybearc translate the original Greek, 
Prsetorium, or Praetorian camp," in place of palace. 



APPENDIX. 285 

Thus we meet with a remarkable concurrence of circum- 
stances bearing on the introduction of Christianity into 
Britain. 

First, St. Paul was often in the palace of Caesar, and 
with the Praetorian guards, where he must have met with 
the distinguished captives and hostages from Britain, for he 
alludes in his writings both to the Praetorian guard and to 
the household of Coesar. 1 

Second. He was acquainted with Linus, a prince of 
Britain, the first Bishop of Rome, with Pudens, of senatorial 
rank, and with Claudia, a British princess. 

1 It was the custom of the Romans to chain their distinguished 
prisoners to officers or soldiers of the Praetorian guard, who were 
answerahle for their safety with their lives. Thus St. Paul was chained 
to one of the guard. And thus we learn from Josephus, L. 18, c. 8, 
was King Agrippa chained to an inferior officer of the guard, and 
allowed with him to visit the palace of Caesar. Josephus, in this hook, 
presents a vivid picture of Agrippa in his purple rohes, standing in 
chains hefore the palace, and leaning in a melancholy posture against 
a tree, where the soldiers permitted a German prisoner to converse 
with him. He informs us, also, that after he had been for six months 
a prisoner on these terms, a friend whispered to him in Hebrew, that 
Tiberius was dead ; and when he expressed his joy, the officer who 
held him in custody, having ascertained the reason, removed his 
chains and treated him to a superb supper, which was abruptly ter- 
minated by a report of the recovery of Tiberius. 

St. Paul makes frequent allusion in his Epistles to his captivity 
and chains, and to the Praetorian guard. Thus he calls himself " an 
ambassador in bonds," Ephesians 6 : 20 ; says Onesiphorus " was not 
ashamed of my chain," 2 Timothy 1 : 16; tells the Jews at Rome, 
" for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain," Acts 28 : 20 ; 
and on his arrival at Rome, " the centurion delivered his prisoners to 
the captain of the guard; but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself 
with a soldier that kept him," Acts 28 : 16. He speaks, also, " of the 
whole armor of God," " the breastplate of righteousness," " the shield 
of faith," " the helmet of salvation," " the sword of the spirit," Ephe- 
sians 6: 11, 13, 14,- 16, 17; 1 Thessalonians 5: 8. His metaphors 
and illustrations were often drawn from the soldier of the Praetorian 
cuard to whom he was chained. 



286 THE CATHOLIC. 

Third. Pomponia, the wife of the only living Roman 
who had received an ovation, and herself of the ancient 
Pomponian family, had become a convert to Christianity, 
and we presume she had either followed her husband to 
Britain, or was deeply interested in the country where he 
had won his laurels. She was one of the most distinguished 
ladies of the empire. 

Fourth. The release of a British king and a royal family, 
captives with St. Paul for years in Rome. 

Fifth. The release of St. Paul the very year before the 
return of Brennus and his family to Britain. 

Sixth. The civilization which was pervading Britain, so 
tranquillized, that the philosophers of Rome found it a safe 
field for the investment of millions. 

Britain had been the great field for Roman exploits dur- 
ing the reign of Claudius. Britain had become the theme 
of poetry and history ; there the Roman legions had con- 
quered ; the fame of Caractacus had pervaded the empire ; 
nation after nation had been subdued ; Caractacus himself 
had been made a prisoner and transported to Rome, to the 
spot where St. Paul stood in chains before Caesar,- and 
made converts of every rank and condition of men, from 
the slave to the princess. The presumptive heir of the 
emperor Claudius was Britannicus ; the latest ovation had 
been for British conquests ; the most intimate friends of the 
apostle were a British prince and princess, and the husband 
of the latter, all Christians. The wife of Plautius, who 
had subdued Britain, was probably his convert, and the 
apostle in the vast palace of Caesar, in the Praetorian camp, 
and amidst these distinguished natives or friends of Britain, 
must have met also Brennus and Caractacus. A way was 
thus opened for Christianity into Britain, apparently by the 
interposition of Divine Providence. The apostle was lib- 
erated. The great men of Britain, like the "man of Mace- 
donia in his vision, were beckoning him onward. Did the 
zealous apostle require higher incentives ? 



APPENDIX. 287 

May we not, then, presume that the apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, sent to preach the Gospel to every creature, feeling 
that he was released from the lion's mouth for that express 
purpose, would have accompanied the British monarch and 
his suite on their return, and have planted the church in 
Britain. What light does history shed upon this subject ? 

Nearly all the ancient fathers concur in stating that he 
did preach " in the west," and Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, 
Jerome, Theodoret, and Gregory * assert that he made the 
visit he proposed to Spain, and preached the Gospel 
there. Spain was on the commercial route to Britain, 2 and 
what more probable than this, that he passed through Spain 
on his way to or from the British Islands. But we have 
direct testimony on this point. Sophronius, a writer of the 
seventh century, states expressly that St. Paul preached in 
Britain. 3 

The historian, Eusebius, 4 in the third century, after nam- 
ing the twelve apostles and their seventy associates, and de- 
voting several pages to their exploits, writes that some of 
them visited the Persians, Armenians, Parthians, Scythians, 
Indians, and others passed over the ocean to the British 
Isles. Which of them could have passed over except St. 
Paul, the great missionary of the West? Lingard, the 
Roman Catholic critic, feels the force of this testimony of 
the first historian of the church, but endeavors to evade it 
by the suggestion that St. Paul was not one of these apos- 

1 Chrysostom, Oratio in Paul. Tom. 8, p. 59 ; Theodoret on Philip. 
1:25; Athanasius, Vol. I. p. 737 ; Burgess' Treatise,- p. 22. 

2 Tacitus, a contemporary of St. Paul, states that Ireland was situate 
between Britain and Spain, and that it presented better harbors than 
Britain, which were known through commerce and merchants. — 
Tacitus' Life of Agricola. St. Jerome, speaking of St. Paul's visit to 
Spain, says : " In Hispaniam alienigenaram portatus est naribus." 
" He was carried in the ships of other nations into Spain." 

3 Sophronius, quoted by Godwin de Praesul, p. 8. 

4 Eusebius, Evang. Dom. Book 3, c. 5 and 7. 



288 THE CATHOLIC. 

ties ; but he is uniformly classed either with them or above 
them by all the ancient fathers ; and such nice distinctions 
do little to weaken the evidence. The same Eusebius re- 
peatedly speaks of the British Ocean as the Western Ocean, 
and elsewhere speaks of Gaul and " the western parts " be- 
yond it, — evidently referring to Britain. 

Again, Gildas, 1 a British writer of the sixth century, in 
his Annals, written a. d. 564, before the final conquest of 
the country by the Saxons, informs us that the gospel was 
received in Britain before the fatal defeat by Suetonius Pau- 
linus of the natives under Boadicea, which defeat occurred 
about a. d, 61, in the reign of Nero. 

The evidence of the historian Eusebius to the fact that 
the apostles (and consequently St. Paul) planted the gospel 
in Britain, is of peculiar value. Eusebius was the favorite 
of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, himself a native 
of Britain. 2 Eusebius was a scholar and man of letters, 
having access to the best sources of information, and busy in 
collating church records and other documents as the mate- 
rials for his Annals of the Church. 

This period was long prior to the invasion of the barba- 
rians, and great dependence may be placed on his testimony. 
St. Jerome, the great Roman authority, and the principal 
author of the Vulgate, tells us that the design of God in 
liberating St. Paul from the lion's mouth, (his captivity in 
Rome,) was, that the gospel might be preached by him in 
the western parts also, (" occidentis quoque partibus") and 
further says, that St. Paul " went from ocean to ocean." 

i Gildas. 

2 Constantine, the first Christian emperor, Avas a native of Britain. 
His father, Constantius, resided many years at York ; and the em- 
press Helena, his mother, was also a Briton. On his father's death, 
Constantino was proclaimed emperor in Britain. — Burgess, 137. Poly- 
dore Virgil says of Constantino : So enim Britannia! matre genitus, in 
Britannia natus, in Britannia iinperator creatus hand dubio magnitu- 
dinis suae gloria; natalc solum particeps effecit. — Hist. A. L. 1. 



appmdix. £m 

And what ocean can he refer to except the Atlantic, and that 
expanse of water known to the ancients as the British Ocean ?■ 

If to this evidence we add the testimony of Nicephorus 
and Dorotheas, 1 the venerable Bede, and St. Paul himself, 
we find further confirmation. In his last Epistle to Tim- 
othy, 2 the apostle writes : " Endure afflictions ; do the work of 
an evangelist ; make fall proof of thy ministry ; for I am now 
ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 
I have fought the good fight ; I have finished my course." 

Such evidence confirms the proof that " the prince of the 
apostles," " the ruler of nations," the apostle Paul, planted 
Christianity in Britain. For we may well presume the 
zealous apostle, sent to all the Gentiles, would not have felt 
that he had given " full proof of his ministry," " would not 
have been ready to be sacrificed," or have assured his friend 
that he " had fought a good fight, and had finished his 
course," if he had omitted to preach the gospel in populous 
Britain, a region filled with Roman colonies, and ready to 
welcome him, — the home, too, of his distinguished friends, 
Linus and Claudia, who join him in that epistle which pre- 
cedes his martyrdom. It is a striking coincidence that the 
name of Linus, the British prince, and the name Claudia, a 
British princess, and of Pudens her husband, son of a Ro- 
man senator, are all grouped together by St. Paul in his 
last epistle to Timothy. 

Much light is thrown upon the associates of St. Paul, by 
a modern discovery at Chichester, an ancient colony of the 
Romans in England. 3 

1 Usher, in his Britan. Eccles. Antiquitates, p. 9, cites from two 
ancient authors, namely, from " Meneeis Grseeorum," and from " Do- 
rotheus in his Synopsis/' two distinct statements that Aristobulus-, 
mentioned in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans 16 : 10, was ordained 
by St. Paul bishop of the Britons. 

2 4:5to7. 

3 In Conybeare and Howson's Life of St. Paul, p. 500, is the ex- 
tract here inserted. 

25 



290 THE CATHOLIC. 

The following facts, relating to the names of Puden3 and 
Claudia, are taken from an ingenious essay on the subject, 
entitled " Claudia and Pudens" 1 

" There are two epigrams of Martial, (iv. 13, and xi. 54,) 
the former of which describes the marriage of a distinguished 
Roman named Pudens to a foreign lady (peregrina) named 
Claudia ; and the latter of which tells us that this Claudia 
was a Briton, and gives her the cognomen of Rufaia. 
When the latter epigram was written, she had grown up 
sons and daughters, but herself still retained the charms of 
youth. Both these epigrams were written during Martial's 
residence at Rome ; and therefore their date must be be- 
tween a. d. 66 and a. d. 100. (See Clinton's Fasti.) The 
former of the two epigrams was not published till the reign 
of Domitian ; but it may very probably have been written 
many years earlier. Thus the Claudia and Pudens of Mar- 
tial may be the same with the Claudia and Pudens who are 
here seen as friends of St. Paul in A. d. 68. 

But further; Tacitus mentions (Agric. 14) that certain 
territories in the south-east of Britain were given to a Brit- 
ish king, Cogidunus, as a reward for his fidelity to Rome. 
This occurred about A. D. 52, while Tiberius Claudius Nero, 
commonly called Claudius, was emperor. 

Again, in 1723, a marble was dug up at Chichester, 
with the following inscription, in which the brackets indicate 
the part lost by the portion of the stone broken off: — 

[n]EPTUNO ET MINERVffi 

TEMPLUM 

[pr]o SALUTE X>OMUS DIVINiE 

AUCTORITATE TIB. CLAUD. 

[CO]GIDUBNI REGIS LEGATI AUGUSTI IN. BRIT. 

[C0LLE]GIUM FABRORUM ET QUI IN EO 

[a sacris sunt] de suo DEDICAVERUNT donante aream 
[pud]ente pudentini filio. 

" i By J. Williams, M. A. London, 1848. 



APPENDIX. . 291 

Now, the Tiberius Claudius Gogidubnus here mentioned 
as British king- of Chichester, is proved by Mr. Williams to 
be undoubtedly the same mentioned by Tacitus ; and we see 
that Cogidunus had, according to the practice in such cases, 
adopted the nomen and prcenomen of his patron, the emperor 
Claudius. Hence, this king's daughter must, according to 
Roman usage, (see Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities, p. 
640,) have been called Claudia. It is also in exact accord- 
ance with that which was the common practice in such cases, 
that a daughter of king Cogidunus should have been sent 
to Rome (as a pledge of his fidelity) to be there educated. 
If this was done, the young Claudia would no doubt be 
placed under the protection of Pomponia, the wife of Aulus 
Plautius, the conqueror of Britain ; for this Plautius had 
been the imperial legate in Britain, A. d. 43-52, and had 
been aided by the fidelity of Cogidunus. Now this Pom- 
ponia, (as we learn from Tacitus, Annal xiii. 32,) was ac- 
cused in A. D. 57, of being tainted with " a- foreign super- 
stition" — which may not improbably have been Christianity. 
And if so, she may have converted her supposed protegee 
Claudia. 

Another connecting link between Claudia and Pomponia 
may perhaps be found in the cognomen Rufina, attached to 
Claudia by Martial. For a distinguished branch of the 
Pomponian gens, at this period, bore the cognomen Rufus ; 
and if our Pomponia was of this Rujine branch, it would be 
agreeable to Roman usage that her protegee Claudia should 
be called Rujina. And this probability is increased when 
we find a Rufus (in Martial's Epigram) taking an interest 
in the marriage of Claudia. We know also that a Jewish 
Christian at Rome bore the name of Rufus, (see Rom. 16 : 
13 and note) ; and it may be conjectured that this Rufus 
had assumed his Roman name, (as we know was commonly 
done by the Jews,) from his being under the protection of 
one of this powerful house of Pomponius Rufus, some of 



292 THE CATHOLIC. 

whom would thus again be connected with Roman Chris- 
tianity. 

Lastly, in the above inscription we find the name of 
Pudens, son of Pudentinus, united with that of Cogidunus ; 
which would exactly correspond with the hypothesis, that 
the former was a son-in-law of the latter. 

We may add that, according to the tradition of the me- 
diaeval church, (which could hardly be acquainted with 
these epigrams of Martial,) a certain Timotheus, son of a 
Roman senator named Pudens, took part in the conversion 
of the Britons to Christianity." 

I have thus accumulated the proofs that St. Paul preached 
the Gospel in the west of Europe, and planted the first 
churches in Britain. 

The evidence may not be conclusive, but it seems to me to 
be altogether stronger than the proof that St. Peter ren- 
dered any effectual aid in planting the first church and the 
episcopate in Imperial Rome, and I can find no satisfactory 
proof, or even presumptions of any visit by St. Peter to 
Britain. 

Should my reasoning on this point be questioned, I can 
only add, that while it repels the pretence that the popes of 
Rome first planted Christianity in Britain, and confirms the 
historical proof that a British church was planted in 
Britain before a. d. 61, and continued there with its own 
bishops independent of Rome, until the invasion of the 
Anglo-Saxons in the eighth century, it is by no means 
essential to the case I have made against the usurpations 
and errors of the Church of Rome. Let me hope that my 
other arguments will suffice to prove, that an American 
citizen may be a good Christian and a Catholic, without 
subjecting himself to the Romish Hierarchy. 1 

1 The render who may desire to examine the proof that the church 
in Britain was founded before the church in Home, and preserved 
an independent existence under its own bishops for nearly ten ccn- 



APPENDIX. 293 

turies, will read with much interest a modern work hy Trelawney, 
entitled, " Perran Zabulce," or the lost church found. In this he 
gives the history of a British church, buried in the sands of Corn- 
wall, and disinterred after the lapse of many centuries, and gives a 
vivid picture of the gradual immersion of the British church in the 
quicksand of Roman Catholicism after the Norman invasion, and its 
subsequent recovery. Perran Zabulce has been republished in New 
York, from the fifth London edition. 



END 



famis 



